Mitotic waves on the Sächsische Zeitung

The mitotic waves made it onto the Sächsische Zeitung, a regional newspaper published in Dresden (thanks to Katrin Boes from MPI-CBG). They wrote a nice little piece about the video. I translated it to English (using DeepL…). You can read it below.

Scientist receives coveted film award

Dresden researcher turns little fruit flies into movie stars. With a serious background.

While Hollywood rolls out the red carpet for the stars, there is a film award that does without a golden statuette. The Japanese company Nikon regularly organizes the “Small World in Motion” video competition. “It’s a world in motion”. Scientists can win there with their films. This time, Brazilian researcher Bruno C. Vellutini from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) in Dresden took first place. He didn’t make a love drama or a movie about superheroes—his film shows the breathtaking choreography of cell division in a fruit fly embryo. Sounds unspectacular? Not at all. What happens in these 30 seconds has the potential to advance cancer research and expand our understanding of birth defects.

The main character in Vellutini’s film is a tiny embryo of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. It is one of over 3,000 species in the tau fly family. The fly is one of the best-studied organisms in the world, and has therefore long been used by scientists as a model organism for their research. The fruit fly is barely visible to the naked eye. For the film, the slide under a microscope became a screen. This is where the drama of embryogenesis takes place.

The movie starts at second 0 with synchronized cell divisions and, from second 11, heads towards the turning point—gastrulation. Here, a simple cell layer becomes a complex structure, from which the entire living organism later forms. What can go wrong in this phase is of great interest to scientists, as similar processes also occur in the development of lung and liver cancer, as well as breast cancer.

Bruno C. Vellutini is a biologist and researcher in the field of evolutionary developmental biology. He studies how different embryos form their body parts to understand the evolution of animal diversity. Before joining the MPI- CBG, he completed his studies at the University of São Paulo and his doctorate at the University of Bergen in Norway. He has long been fascinated by the possibilities of photomicrography. He is fascinated by the potential of microscopes to see beyond the limits of our human eyes. “My passion was awakened by the ability of microscopes to capture and observe breathtaking microscopic phenomena in images or films, to make new discoveries and to share this fascinating world with others.” His video would be interesting for everyone because fruit fly embryos can also be found in every household. “This video shows that the fascinating dynamics of cells and tissues take place every day in the most ordinary living organisms around us.”

Microscopes have been indispensable tools of science for more than 400 years. Their history began in the 16th century with the first crude devices of the Dutch spectacle grinders, Hans and Zacliarias Janssen. But it was Antoni van Leeuwenhoek who refined the microscope and opened up the world of microbes to mankind—a world that remains invisible to the naked eye. In the 19th century In the 19th century, Carl Zeiss and Ernst Abbe revolutionized microscopy with their advances in optics.

Later, in the 20th century, the invention of the electron microscope made it possible to look even deeper into the structures of matter by using electron beams instead of light. Today, it is impossible to imagine modern science without microscopes. In biology and medicine, they make it possible to examine the fine details of cell structure and diagnose diseases at a cellular level. In materials science and nanotechnology, they provide insights into the nature and properties of materials.

There were 370 entries from 40 countries in this year’s competition. In the end, Vellutini’s film won over the jury. It proves that even the most inconspicuous creatures can play the leading role in a fascinating story of life. (jam)

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URL: https://brunovellutini.com/posts/sachsische-zeitung/

#diptera #drosophilaMelanogaster #embryo #newspiece #postdoc #video

In the spotLights

spotLights is a podcast-like, interview series to highlight the people and stories behind the latest preprints. It is part of the preLights initiative organized by The Company of Biologists.

The first spotLights episode is out, and it features… me 🥸

The conversation was about the cephalic furrow preprint, which was also reviewed by preLighters earlier this year.

Participating in a podcast was something new for me!

It was a pleasure to be a part of such a fresh initiative. Big thanks to Reinier Prosée, Matthew Davies, and Ethan Ewe for the invitation and for hosting me.

You can hear the interview below. But, before that, I recommend reading the preLights post and the thread about the paper for context.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPfdCn9kScE

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URL: https://brunovellutini.com/posts/spotlights/

#cephalicFurrow #newspiece #postdoc #scienceOutreach