CDB Seminar - Miki Ebisuya, Physics of Life (PoL) TU Dresden

Talk abstract: Different animal species exhibit distinct developmental timing and morphology. For example, human embryonic development proceeds 2-3 times more slowly than in mice, and the human brain undergoes markedly greater expansion compared to other species. Our group investigates the mechanisms underlying these species-specific differences using in vitro models derived from the “Stem Cell Zoo,” a collection of pluripotent stem cells from a wide range of mammalian species.

In this talk, I will present our findings on species-specific segmentation clock periods and brain tissue mechanics, highlighting how the Stem Cell Zoo platform enables comparative analysis of developmental tempo and biophysical parameters across species.

Suggested references:

• Matsuda et al, Science, 369, 1450-1455 (2020).
• Lazaro et al, Cell Stem Cell, 30, 938-949 (2023)
• Xu et al, bioRxiv,doi: 10.1101/2025.10.07.680907 (2025)
• Marchenko et al, bioRxiv, doi: 10.64898/2026.03.30.715222 (2026)

Host: Masa Tada