Crowd Control

Living tissues develop to an overall pattern, carefully coordinating their crowds of cells in time and space. But how? Here researchers examine this morphogenesis, highlighting thousands of nuclei in jostling cells in a developing zebrafish’s retina with different colours, using a combination of microscopy and image analysis. Early in development, nuclei are oval shaped and loosely arranged in the tissue. In this older retina, developing layers become crowded with cells. Their nuclei change shape, becoming more rounded, potentially helping cells to pack together into the regular arrangement required in the overall organ. These developmental milestones suggest zebrafish could provide (even more) clues to organogenesis in genetically similar organisms, like humans, who share over 70% of their genes.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

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A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Video from work by Lucrezia C. Ferme and colleagues
• Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine, Oeiras, Portugal
• Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
• Published in Science Advances, May 2025