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Lessons in resilience: An interview with Erica Crespi
Erica Crespi has been told that she tends to chase shiny things. From career paths to model organisms to teaching methods to research questions, the Washington State University professor’s scientific journey has been anything but linear. But, in the face of criticism that she is a jack of all trades and a master of none, she views her adaptability as one of her greatest strengths.
Blanche Capel Awarded 2025 Edwin G. Conklin Medal
“Philosophically, the most important problems of biology are those which concern the origin of a new individual, the genesis of a living organism” -E. G. Conklin, 1896. This quote beautifully encompasses decades of research led by Blanche Capel, this year’s Society for Developmental Biology Edwin G. Conklin Medal recipient. Capel is a professor in the Cell Biology Department at Duke University, where she has spent her career making significant strides in the developmental and reproductive biology fields.
Honoring Billie J. Swalla's Legacy with a Lifetime Achievement Award
When Billie Swalla learned of her nomination for the Developmental Biology-Society for Developmental Biology Lifetime Achievement Award, she felt "humbled to be among Nobel Prize-winning colleagues," never imagining she would be counted among their ranks. But to the scientific community, and especially to her nominators, this recognition felt long overdue.
President’s Corner: Advocating for Developmental Biology — ROAR
I know I am preaching to the choir, but developmental biology is a fascinating field of research. Discoveries made in the field of developmental biology provide fundamental knowledge about how organisms form and fuel biomedical research for new therapeutic strategies for human disease. However, you may have heard your colleagues or administrators at your institution disparage our beloved field of developmental biology.
SDB Mourns the of Passing of Sir John Gurdon
The Society for Developmental Biology mourns the passing of 2001 Edwin G. Conklin Medalist Sir John Gurdon. Gurdon was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his "ground-breaking work which proved that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become immature stem cells capable of developing into all tissues of the body."
President's Corner: Challenges
I am very excited to serve as the President of the Society for Developmental Biology. My term began following the SDB Board of Directors meeting at the 20th International Congress of Developmental Biology in San Juan, Puerto Rico. As President, my primary job is to plan next year’s annual meeting that will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada but I intend to work on a variety of projects that I will describe later.
The Backstory: Padmanabhan Babu and the isolation of the e912 mutant (lin-4)
For many years there was only one lin-4 mutant allele (e912), and this single allele enabled the studies reported by Lee et al. (1993) from the Ambros lab, describing the first microRNA. The e912 mutant was first reported by Horvitz and Sulston (1980) - “lin-4(e912) was obtained by P. Babu”. Who is P. Babu?
The Backstory: An interview with Candy Lee on the discovery of microRNAs
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for the discovery of microRNAs. Rosalind (Candy) Lee has been a member of the Ambros lab since 1987. She is the co-first author of the 1993 paper describing the unusual product of the lin-4 locus in C. elegans, the first described microRNA.
Universities and the government: Which needs the other more?
An op-ed by Carole LaBonne
We frequently hear of late that universities are “dependent on federal money,” as though they were passive beneficiaries of government largesse. The reality is closer to the opposite: The federal government depends on universities to conduct the research that keeps our nation healthy, safe and economically competitive.
Crawling towards the evolutionary origin of novel structures
Heather Bruce’s childhood attempts to raise crawfish in a kiddie pool were excellent foreshadowing for her future work maintaining millipede colonies in the lab. Bruce, formerly a postdoc at Marine Biological Laboratory and a new faculty member at University of British Columbia was the recipient of a 2023 Society for Developmental Biology Emerging Research Organisms (ERO) grant.
Bioluminescence sheds light on the developmental origin of novel organs: An interview with Lisa Mesrop
Most of us know about fireflies, but did you know that some of their distant relatives live underwater?Lisa Mesrop, a 2023 Society for Developmental Biology Emerging Research Organism Grant awardee, studies exactly that–bioluminescent ostracod Vargula tsujii, colloquially known as “sea fireflies”.
Developmental Biology
Developmental Biology, the official journal of the Society for Developmental Biology, publishes original research on mechanisms of development, differentiation, and growth in animals and plants at the molecular, cellular, genetic and evolutionary levels.
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WIREs Mechanisms of Disease
WIREs Developmental Biology, previously published in association with the Society for Developmental Biology, has merged into WIREs Mechanisms of Disease. All SDB members can access WIREs Mechanisms of Disease articles for free by signing in to their SDB Membership Portal.
