Louis Prahl
@lsprahl.bsky.social
Postdoc @ Penn Bioengineering + Center for Soft & Living Matter. Working at the interface between tissue engineering and developmental biology. Music nerd, runner, birder, sci-fi fan. He/him/his. Opinions are my own.
Reposted by Louis Prahl
🌊 Developmental biologists say gastrulation is the most important moment of your life… and this sea urchin is making sure it looks fabulous for the occasion 💅
🔴 Laminin 🟢 Skeletal cells 🔵 Membranes 📸 Image from David McClay #FluorescenceFriday #DevBio
🔴 Laminin 🟢 Skeletal cells 🔵 Membranes 📸 Image from David McClay #FluorescenceFriday #DevBio
November 14, 2025 at 9:17 PM
🌊 Developmental biologists say gastrulation is the most important moment of your life… and this sea urchin is making sure it looks fabulous for the occasion 💅
🔴 Laminin 🟢 Skeletal cells 🔵 Membranes 📸 Image from David McClay #FluorescenceFriday #DevBio
🔴 Laminin 🟢 Skeletal cells 🔵 Membranes 📸 Image from David McClay #FluorescenceFriday #DevBio
Reposted by Louis Prahl
Ever wondered if analyzing your images by using intensity Z-projections impacts your data?
Happy to announce my guest article in Microscopy & Analysis on that topic. It's a very short read but worth for everyone dealing with image analysis!
buff.ly/KJ147tI
#Microscopy #ZProjection #ImageAnalysis
Happy to announce my guest article in Microscopy & Analysis on that topic. It's a very short read but worth for everyone dealing with image analysis!
buff.ly/KJ147tI
#Microscopy #ZProjection #ImageAnalysis
November 10, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Ever wondered if analyzing your images by using intensity Z-projections impacts your data?
Happy to announce my guest article in Microscopy & Analysis on that topic. It's a very short read but worth for everyone dealing with image analysis!
buff.ly/KJ147tI
#Microscopy #ZProjection #ImageAnalysis
Happy to announce my guest article in Microscopy & Analysis on that topic. It's a very short read but worth for everyone dealing with image analysis!
buff.ly/KJ147tI
#Microscopy #ZProjection #ImageAnalysis
Reposted by Louis Prahl
Good luck to all of the folks submitting NSF GRFP applications today! If you have been able to keep up with their constant changes and get all of your letters submitted, documents written, formatted, and uploaded on time you have already accomplished so much! Good luck to all.
a black cat is sitting at a desk with a laptop and the words sending you luck
Alt: a black cat is sitting at a desk with a laptop and the words sending you luck
media.tenor.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Good luck to all of the folks submitting NSF GRFP applications today! If you have been able to keep up with their constant changes and get all of your letters submitted, documents written, formatted, and uploaded on time you have already accomplished so much! Good luck to all.
Reposted by Louis Prahl
This is a most excellent read. Reducing Rosalind Franklin to simply a victim in the discovery of the DNA double helix inadvertently strips her of her very real contributions.
If you believe either that Franklin discovered the double helix, and / or Watson and Crick stole her data, ask yourself how you know this. Then take a read of this article.
If I see one more stupid Rosalind Franklin take I'm going to lose my mind. Thank god for @matthewcobb.bsky.social and @nccomfort.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
November 8, 2025 at 11:06 AM
This is a most excellent read. Reducing Rosalind Franklin to simply a victim in the discovery of the DNA double helix inadvertently strips her of her very real contributions.
Reposted by Louis Prahl
Excited to embark on this scientific journey with Ewa Paluch and Daniel StJohnston to understand fundamentals of epithelial tissue and cell shapes! Thank you to @erc.europa.eu for the support!
🚀 Exciting news! ERC Synergy Grant of €8.5 million to Sara Wickström @sarawickstrom.bsky.social, Daniel St Jonston @gurdoninstitute.bsky.social and Ewa Paluch @universitypress.cambridge.org! This highly interdisciplinary project will boost our understanding of tissue biology. #ERCSyG @erc.europa.eu
November 6, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Excited to embark on this scientific journey with Ewa Paluch and Daniel StJohnston to understand fundamentals of epithelial tissue and cell shapes! Thank you to @erc.europa.eu for the support!
Reposted by Louis Prahl
The Leading Edge Fellows gathered this week to celebrate Zara Weinberg, a beloved member of our community. Our 7th cohort of Leading Edge Fellows (2026) will be named in her honor.
The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2.
www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2.
www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
November 5, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The Leading Edge Fellows gathered this week to celebrate Zara Weinberg, a beloved member of our community. Our 7th cohort of Leading Edge Fellows (2026) will be named in her honor.
The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2.
www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
The Zara Weinberg Leading Edge Cohort application is now open! Due Feb 2.
www.leadingedgesymposium.org/apply/
Reposted by Louis Prahl
🔬 Applications are now open!
Join MBL’s world-renowned Advanced Research Training Courses, where scientists from around the globe come together to explore new ideas, master cutting-edge techniques, and become part of a dynamic network.
➡️Apply today: go.mbl.edu/courses
Join MBL’s world-renowned Advanced Research Training Courses, where scientists from around the globe come together to explore new ideas, master cutting-edge techniques, and become part of a dynamic network.
➡️Apply today: go.mbl.edu/courses
Course Offerings | Marine Biological Laboratory
go.mbl.edu
October 28, 2025 at 6:08 PM
🔬 Applications are now open!
Join MBL’s world-renowned Advanced Research Training Courses, where scientists from around the globe come together to explore new ideas, master cutting-edge techniques, and become part of a dynamic network.
➡️Apply today: go.mbl.edu/courses
Join MBL’s world-renowned Advanced Research Training Courses, where scientists from around the globe come together to explore new ideas, master cutting-edge techniques, and become part of a dynamic network.
➡️Apply today: go.mbl.edu/courses
Reposted by Louis Prahl
Ascidians (Ciona intestinalis)🪸Our distant chordate cousins! 🌊 Simple sea squirts that reveal how vertebrate body plans evolved 🧬 A key model for notochord formation, neural induction, and cell lineage mapping 📸 Video by MBL Embryology 2019 #ModelMonday #DevBio #EvoDevo
October 28, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Ascidians (Ciona intestinalis)🪸Our distant chordate cousins! 🌊 Simple sea squirts that reveal how vertebrate body plans evolved 🧬 A key model for notochord formation, neural induction, and cell lineage mapping 📸 Video by MBL Embryology 2019 #ModelMonday #DevBio #EvoDevo
Reposted by Louis Prahl
Really excited to present the results of a fantastic collaboration with Jesse Veenvliet @jesseveenvliet.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @poldresden.bsky.social 🤩
We find a unique mechanism for body axis elongation in mammals, different from other vertebrate species
➡️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We find a unique mechanism for body axis elongation in mammals, different from other vertebrate species
➡️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Really excited to present the results of a fantastic collaboration with Jesse Veenvliet @jesseveenvliet.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @poldresden.bsky.social 🤩
We find a unique mechanism for body axis elongation in mammals, different from other vertebrate species
➡️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We find a unique mechanism for body axis elongation in mammals, different from other vertebrate species
➡️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Louis Prahl
@joann-trejo.bsky.social, @marymunson4.bsky.social and I have a commentary in @natcellbio.nature.com on recent attacks on DEI in biomedical research: "If scientific research, especially biomedical research, is meant to serve everyone, then it requires that everyone has an opportunity to participate"
Scaling back DEI programmes and the loss of scientific talent
Nature Cell Biology - Programmes that support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in science are under attack in the USA. Data indicate that diversity in the scientific workforce increases...
www.nature.com
October 23, 2025 at 4:36 PM
@joann-trejo.bsky.social, @marymunson4.bsky.social and I have a commentary in @natcellbio.nature.com on recent attacks on DEI in biomedical research: "If scientific research, especially biomedical research, is meant to serve everyone, then it requires that everyone has an opportunity to participate"
Reposted by Louis Prahl
Our department @ucdavisvetmed.bsky.social @ucdavis.bsky.social is hiring! We welcome research that diversifies or complements existing strengths in gastrointestinal, neuroimmune, musculoskeletal, cardiorespiratory
systems and/or developmental biology. @socdevbio.bsky.social @ascbiology.bsky.social
systems and/or developmental biology. @socdevbio.bsky.social @ascbiology.bsky.social
October 22, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Our department @ucdavisvetmed.bsky.social @ucdavis.bsky.social is hiring! We welcome research that diversifies or complements existing strengths in gastrointestinal, neuroimmune, musculoskeletal, cardiorespiratory
systems and/or developmental biology. @socdevbio.bsky.social @ascbiology.bsky.social
systems and/or developmental biology. @socdevbio.bsky.social @ascbiology.bsky.social
Reposted by Louis Prahl
Dear all, A scientist from UNC Chapel Hill, Paul Maddox, is running for congress in NC for a seat currently held by a republican. If you care about science (and democracy) please consider donating to his campaign #Standupforscience secure.actblue.com/donate/paul-...
Donate to Paul Maddox for Congress in NC 11
Paul is running for Congress because there’s a sickness in Washington, and no one is working to cure it.
secure.actblue.com
October 20, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Dear all, A scientist from UNC Chapel Hill, Paul Maddox, is running for congress in NC for a seat currently held by a republican. If you care about science (and democracy) please consider donating to his campaign #Standupforscience secure.actblue.com/donate/paul-...
Reposted by Louis Prahl
Today for #FluorescenceFriday I’m sharing a 👻Halloween-themed🎃 neural crest explant “web of cells” from Julia Godinez, a 4th year @ucdavis.bsky.social graduate student in the lab. She is studying mechanisms driving conserved and divergent cranial neural crest migration and differentiation. #DevBio
October 17, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Today for #FluorescenceFriday I’m sharing a 👻Halloween-themed🎃 neural crest explant “web of cells” from Julia Godinez, a 4th year @ucdavis.bsky.social graduate student in the lab. She is studying mechanisms driving conserved and divergent cranial neural crest migration and differentiation. #DevBio
Reposted by Louis Prahl
Re-posting given recent adds
go.bsky.app/9asWtuD
go.bsky.app/9asWtuD
December 15, 2024 at 3:01 PM
Re-posting given recent adds
go.bsky.app/9asWtuD
go.bsky.app/9asWtuD
Reposted by Louis Prahl
🚨🚨🚨
And THREE stood up!
Penn has joined MIT & Brown in rejecting Trump’s loyalty oath compact.
When we join together and fight back, WE WIN!
No amount of federal bribery is worth surrendering the freedom to question, explore, and dissent.
LET’S GO!
#DefendHigherEd
@aaup-penn.bsky.social
And THREE stood up!
Penn has joined MIT & Brown in rejecting Trump’s loyalty oath compact.
When we join together and fight back, WE WIN!
No amount of federal bribery is worth surrendering the freedom to question, explore, and dissent.
LET’S GO!
#DefendHigherEd
@aaup-penn.bsky.social
Penn rejects White House proposal for special funding treatment
With the decision, Penn becomes the third university to decline the offer.
www.thedp.com
October 16, 2025 at 5:24 PM
🚨🚨🚨
And THREE stood up!
Penn has joined MIT & Brown in rejecting Trump’s loyalty oath compact.
When we join together and fight back, WE WIN!
No amount of federal bribery is worth surrendering the freedom to question, explore, and dissent.
LET’S GO!
#DefendHigherEd
@aaup-penn.bsky.social
And THREE stood up!
Penn has joined MIT & Brown in rejecting Trump’s loyalty oath compact.
When we join together and fight back, WE WIN!
No amount of federal bribery is worth surrendering the freedom to question, explore, and dissent.
LET’S GO!
#DefendHigherEd
@aaup-penn.bsky.social
Reposted by Louis Prahl
Perspective from Richard McIntosh describing the history of research on #microtubule polymerization in terms of the ideas, technologies, and observations that have emerged as countless researchers have studied the dynamics of these essential cytoskeletal polymers. rupress.org/jcb/article/...
October 15, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Perspective from Richard McIntosh describing the history of research on #microtubule polymerization in terms of the ideas, technologies, and observations that have emerged as countless researchers have studied the dynamics of these essential cytoskeletal polymers. rupress.org/jcb/article/...
Reposted by Louis Prahl
Pathologists have used nuclear & tissue shapes to diagnose #cancer for decades, but what is the molecular basis for this? In our latest work, we develop a computational pipeline to figure this out in #colorectalcancer! Check out 🧵& preprint #mechanobiology #stemcells www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
August 15, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Pathologists have used nuclear & tissue shapes to diagnose #cancer for decades, but what is the molecular basis for this? In our latest work, we develop a computational pipeline to figure this out in #colorectalcancer! Check out 🧵& preprint #mechanobiology #stemcells www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Louis Prahl
See this? This = implanting mouse embryo. Usually this happens inside its mother and is invisible to us, but we can actually watch implantation ex vivo with the hope of understanding why implantation goes awry in embryos of older women. A 🧵...
October 1, 2025 at 6:21 PM
See this? This = implanting mouse embryo. Usually this happens inside its mother and is invisible to us, but we can actually watch implantation ex vivo with the hope of understanding why implantation goes awry in embryos of older women. A 🧵...
Reposted by Louis Prahl
So: can a cell hold hands with itself…and do we care? YES and YES! Read on to learn WHY, HOW, and what this has to do with…PARIS (and tree-hugging)? Swansong of Dr. Anamika; Hannah Kim on drums; and fantastic undergrads (Margaret/Lauren) ! 1/n
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
September 30, 2025 at 2:29 PM
So: can a cell hold hands with itself…and do we care? YES and YES! Read on to learn WHY, HOW, and what this has to do with…PARIS (and tree-hugging)? Swansong of Dr. Anamika; Hannah Kim on drums; and fantastic undergrads (Margaret/Lauren) ! 1/n
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Louis Prahl
I’m thrilled to share my postdoc work and the first paper from the McKinley Lab! 🎉
@karalmckinley.bsky.social
We built the first transgenic model of menstruation in mice.
We used it to uncover how the endometrium organizes and sheds during menstruation. 🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵
@karalmckinley.bsky.social
We built the first transgenic model of menstruation in mice.
We used it to uncover how the endometrium organizes and sheds during menstruation. 🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵
Induction of menstruation in mice reveals the regulation of menstrual shedding
During menstruation, an inner layer of the endometrium is selectively shed, while an outer, progenitor-containing layer is preserved to support repeated regeneration. Progress in understanding this co...
www.biorxiv.org
October 10, 2025 at 12:50 PM
I’m thrilled to share my postdoc work and the first paper from the McKinley Lab! 🎉
@karalmckinley.bsky.social
We built the first transgenic model of menstruation in mice.
We used it to uncover how the endometrium organizes and sheds during menstruation. 🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵
@karalmckinley.bsky.social
We built the first transgenic model of menstruation in mice.
We used it to uncover how the endometrium organizes and sheds during menstruation. 🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵
Reposted by Louis Prahl
Lab’s 1st preprint!
Menstruation is understudied due to societal taboos + a biological challenge: mice (a key system for research + drug discovery) don’t menstruate.
@cagricevrim.bsky.social made menstruating mice + used them to discover early events in menstruation.
He is on the job market!
Menstruation is understudied due to societal taboos + a biological challenge: mice (a key system for research + drug discovery) don’t menstruate.
@cagricevrim.bsky.social made menstruating mice + used them to discover early events in menstruation.
He is on the job market!
I’m thrilled to share my postdoc work and the first paper from the McKinley Lab! 🎉
@karalmckinley.bsky.social
We built the first transgenic model of menstruation in mice.
We used it to uncover how the endometrium organizes and sheds during menstruation. 🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵
@karalmckinley.bsky.social
We built the first transgenic model of menstruation in mice.
We used it to uncover how the endometrium organizes and sheds during menstruation. 🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵
Induction of menstruation in mice reveals the regulation of menstrual shedding
During menstruation, an inner layer of the endometrium is selectively shed, while an outer, progenitor-containing layer is preserved to support repeated regeneration. Progress in understanding this co...
www.biorxiv.org
October 10, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Lab’s 1st preprint!
Menstruation is understudied due to societal taboos + a biological challenge: mice (a key system for research + drug discovery) don’t menstruate.
@cagricevrim.bsky.social made menstruating mice + used them to discover early events in menstruation.
He is on the job market!
Menstruation is understudied due to societal taboos + a biological challenge: mice (a key system for research + drug discovery) don’t menstruate.
@cagricevrim.bsky.social made menstruating mice + used them to discover early events in menstruation.
He is on the job market!
Reposted by Louis Prahl
Here, we use the jerboa and mouse to understand the temporal growth dynamics that establish adult vertebral proportion, the cellular drivers of differential growth, and candidate genetic mechanisms that determine and diversify vertebral proportion.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Cellular and genetic mechanisms that shape the development and evolution of tail vertebral proportion in mice and jerboas - Nature Communications
Vertebra lengths differ from the neck to the tail tip and differ between species, evidenced by extreme differences in mouse and jerboa tails. Here, Weber and colleagues identify cellular mechanisms and candidate genes that shape vertebral proportion.
www.nature.com
October 10, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Here, we use the jerboa and mouse to understand the temporal growth dynamics that establish adult vertebral proportion, the cellular drivers of differential growth, and candidate genetic mechanisms that determine and diversify vertebral proportion.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Louis Prahl
Vertebral skeletal diversity in mammals is remarkable. How do the differences between vertebral size and shape develop and evolve? See how we tackled this question in our paper published in @natcomms.nature.com today!
October 10, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Vertebral skeletal diversity in mammals is remarkable. How do the differences between vertebral size and shape develop and evolve? See how we tackled this question in our paper published in @natcomms.nature.com today!
Reposted by Louis Prahl
🚨 My lab is hiring at all levels!
Interested in animal origins & evolutionary cell biology?
I'm recruiting a postdoc, PhD students & a research assistant to study the molecular evolution of cell adhesion using marine invertebrates + comparative genomics.
🔗: clarkelab.com/join/
Please repost!
Interested in animal origins & evolutionary cell biology?
I'm recruiting a postdoc, PhD students & a research assistant to study the molecular evolution of cell adhesion using marine invertebrates + comparative genomics.
🔗: clarkelab.com/join/
Please repost!
October 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
🚨 My lab is hiring at all levels!
Interested in animal origins & evolutionary cell biology?
I'm recruiting a postdoc, PhD students & a research assistant to study the molecular evolution of cell adhesion using marine invertebrates + comparative genomics.
🔗: clarkelab.com/join/
Please repost!
Interested in animal origins & evolutionary cell biology?
I'm recruiting a postdoc, PhD students & a research assistant to study the molecular evolution of cell adhesion using marine invertebrates + comparative genomics.
🔗: clarkelab.com/join/
Please repost!
Reposted by Louis Prahl
"It is going to be disastrous if this continues"
Nobel Prize physics laureate John Clarke says Trump cuts will 'cripple' US scientific research
u.afp.com/SmAy
Nobel Prize physics laureate John Clarke says Trump cuts will 'cripple' US scientific research
u.afp.com/SmAy
October 8, 2025 at 2:49 AM
"It is going to be disastrous if this continues"
Nobel Prize physics laureate John Clarke says Trump cuts will 'cripple' US scientific research
u.afp.com/SmAy
Nobel Prize physics laureate John Clarke says Trump cuts will 'cripple' US scientific research
u.afp.com/SmAy