Rory Cooper

We got the @Nature cover 🎉! Read our article to learn how compressive forces sculpt the intricate head scales of crocodiles 🐊 @LANEVOL @genevunige @UNIGEnews nature.com/articles/s4158…

New Paper Alert! Grateful to be part of this important work! "Occurrence and Maternal Transfer of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Pregnant Sharks from Florida Coastal Waters." @EnvSciTech Environmental Science & Technology 🦈🦈🦈 #shark pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ac…

🚨Job alert in theory/math devbio 🚨 I’m currently advertising postdoc positions to join my group. We’re building reaction-diffusion models to understand some of the crazy things embryos can do. We are based in a beautiful part of Scotland. Please share! abdnjobs.co.uk/vacancy/resear…

🐢 The tortoise head is sculpted by physics and genes! Our new research shows that tortoise head scales form through two distinct processes: 👉 Chemical signaling shapes the sides 👉 Mechanical stress folds the top 🔗 cell.com/iscience/fullt… @UNIGEnews @CellPressNews

Animal appendages, such as feathers, hair, and scales, usually develop as genetically controlled units during embryo development. There are some exceptions to this rule, such as the head scales on crocodiles, which have been found to be produced by purely mechanical processes.

Head scales of the Sulcata tortoise, imaged with light sheet microscopy. Our new study in @iScience_CP reveals that their emergence is controlled by both chemical cues and mechanical forces. Read the full article here 🐢🔬 cell.com/iscience/fullt…

A UNIGE study reveals that turtles use both genetic signals and mechanical forces to develop the scales on their heads, highlighting a shared evolutionary heritage with crocodiles and dinosaurs. @LANEVOL #UNIGE #research #science ow.ly/yLVK50W6O2Q

Squishing jellies!! thenode.biologists.com/squishing-jell… via @the_Node thank you for the opportunity to share this behind the story of my postdoc article from the @RouxLab

This is the skull of a tortoise embryo imaged with light sheet microscopy. Check out our new article in @iScience_CP to learn how both chemical signalling and mechanical forces sculpt their intricate head scales 🐢🔬 cell.com/iscience/fullt…

Excited to share our new research in @iScience_CP ! We reveal that tortoise head scales are sculpted through two distinct developmental processes - chemical signalling and mechanical folding 🐢🔬 @LANEVOL @genevunige cell.com/iscience/fullt…

ICYMI, our new work in @RSocPublishing's Open Biology shows how mechanical forces can drive patterning. By altering growth & material properties of the chicken embryo's skin in vivo, we induce a shift from molecular to mechanical patterning 🐣 🔬 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rs…

🚨 We make the cover of Open Biology! Boosting sonic hedgehog signalling in chicken embryos flips the script of skin patterning—chemical pre-patterns give way to mechanical folding. 🧬 From Turing to tissue mechanics. 🧪 ➡️ royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rs… @UNIGEnews @RSocPublishing

This is the leg of a hatchling chicken, showing their precisely arranged scales 🐣. Read our new article in @RSocPublishing's Open Biology to learn how they develop, and how we can mechanically transform them into a pattern of brain-like folds! royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rs…

Check out our new research in @RSocPublishing's Open Biology! We experimentally induce a transition from chemical to mechanical patterning on the footpad of the chicken embryo 🐣🔬 @LANEVOL royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rs…

Great to see our chicken wing image featured on the cover of @PLOSBiology 🐣🔬! To learn more about how these feathers develop, check out the full article here ⬇️ journals.plos.org/plosbiology/ar… @LANEVOL @genevunige

Thrilled that our image was selected for the cover of @RSocPublishing's Open Biology! We experimentally induced a developmental shift from normal footpad scales to mechanically-driven folding on chicken embryo digits 🐣🔬. Stay tuned—the full article is coming soon! 🧪 #DevBio

New Pre-Print Alert! "Teeth Outside the Jaw: Evolution and Development of the Toothed Head Clasper in Chimaeras." We use fossil evidence, development and CT scans through ghost shark ontogeny to describe the emergence of the unique tenaculum! 👻🦈🦷 biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

Come check out poster 185 in tonight's session at #biologists100 🐣! And for more detail, here's the full article recently published in @PLOSBiology 🔬 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/ar…

On the train to #biologists100! Come check out poster 185 and talk to me about organs that grow from the skin 🐣 🐊