2014

Morphogens, modeling and patterning the neural tube

Unlike some other signaling pathways, Hedgehog does not simply activate a latent activator, but instead converts a transcription factor that represses expression to one that activates gene expression. This adds another dimension, another level of complexity.

Transcriptional networks tend to have lots of feedback in them and it is very difficult to understand how a network with feedback operates.

can we start to identify design principles that go beyond such details and define common features, even though the details are going to differ between different tissues?

 it will be exciting over the next few years to see that more fundamental level of similarity.

Apparently this article was written by the end of 2014.  How many years does the expression “the next few years” indicate?   Have they seen that “more fundamental level of similarity” yet?   Have they answered some outstanding questions?  Have new questions been raised?

Emphasis added.

2018

Here’s a more recent interview with the same British scientist:

Morphogens, modeling and patterning the neural tube (2)

the fundamental question in developmental biology is how the right cells are produced in the right place, at the right time and in the right amounts in a developing tissue.

Addressing these issues covers some of the most basic questions in biology. How is gene activity controlled? How is cell function determined? How are tissues shaped and organised from cells?

how the cells make the key decisions and how this guides the assembly of a functional, well-organised neural tube?

interferons – the secreted cytokines that are the major cellular response to viral infection

study the mechanism of interferon signalling.

Jak-STAT signalling pathway

investigating signal transduction and elucidating pathways such as MAP kinase, RAS, PKA and more

understanding how cells perceive and respond to extracellular signals.

understand Shh signalling

molecular mechanism of signal transduction – I think even today we still have an embarrassingly poor understanding of this pathway –

developmental neurobiology

how the spinal cord forms and functions

understanding the role of Shh in the spinal cord required studying the gene regulatory network that it controls

how the neural tube is formed and patterned

 increasingly complicated gene regulatory networks

 

 

Given the huge volume of published research, it’s increasingly difficult to keep up with the scientific literature. How much do you read and how do you choose what you read?

I agree it can be daunting keeping up with literature. I have a routine where I read a paper first thing in the morning when I get in to work (often I’ll choose it the night before). So I read at least one paper every day, although usually I’ll also read or review an article during the day. I try to read things outside my own research area, as this can provide ideas for my own work. I often pick up paper or preprint suggestions from people I follow on Twitter and I expect I will increasingly use preLights to get recommendations. I also think this is where community journals such as Development play a crucial role. Every issue of Development has papers handled by academic editors who are leaders in the field, so it offers a curated collection of the latest developmental biology research selected by experts. I always browse through the list of newly published papers and I often find myself picking one or two to read – it might be on neural development but as often as not it’s a Drosophila paper, an evo-devo study or even sometimes a plant paper.