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Past News

About

Developmental biology first made its appearance at Institut Pasteur when François Jacob, François Gros and their colleagues extended their pioneering work on mRNA in bacteria to gene regulation in eukaryotic systems. This led to the introduction of mouse genetics and embryology and to work on differentiating cells in culture, at the time within the Molecular Biology Department. The Department of Developmental Biology was then created in 2001, and became the Department of Developmental & Stem Cell Biology (DSCB) in 2014 to recognize the advent of stem cell research in the context of living organisms, with the support of Labex REVIVE. The Department of Developmental & Stem Cell Biology aims at generating mechanistic insights into the fields of developmental biology, epigenetics and stem cell biology with relevance to human health. The research teams focus their attention in three main directions:

  • the regulation of gene expression and epigenetics: using a wide range of methods – molecular, genome-wide, single-gene, imaging-based, computational, etc. -, we study the core mechanisms whereby the (epi)genome responds to and transmits information through mitosis and generations at the cellular and organismal levels as well as during stress;
  • morphogenesis and cell fate transitions: with different cell and animal models (including C. elegans, fly, fish, avian, murine embryos, human cells, and -oids), we investigate the rules governing development in embryos and adults;
  • stem cell biology: we explore how adult stem cells are generated and how they contribute to tissue maintenance and regeneration, in healthy conditions but also in ageing organisms and in pathological perturbations such as tumors or infections.

The Department of Developmental & Stem Cell Biology is directed by Laure Bally-Cuif.

Departmental retreat October 2023 – Annecy

Departmental retreat May 2022 – Île d’Oléron

Teams

Associated teams

Recent disctinctions

  • Laure Bally-Cuif: François Jacob Award (2019), ERC Synergy Grant (2022), elected member of the French Academy of Sciences (2022)
  • Anu Bashamboo: Henning-Andersen Award (2019)
  • Thibaut Brunet: ERC Starting Grant (2022), SBCF Young Researcher Award (2022)
  • Germano Cecere: ERC Consolidator Grant (2020), Prix Pasteur Vallery-Radot (2022)
  • Thomas Gregor: EMBO member (2019), NIH Grant (4DNucleome consortium, 2020), ERC Synergy Grant (2023)
  • Jerôme Gros: ERC Consolidator Grant (2019), Prix Pasteur Vallery-Radot (2021)
  • Romain Levayer: FSER laureate (2019), ERC Consolidator Grant (2023), Prix Pasteur Vallery-Radot (2023)
  • Ken McElreavey: International Visiting Professorship Award, ESPE (2020-2023)
  • Shahragim Tajbakhsh: René and Andrée Duquesne Prize (2020), ERC Advanced Grant (2022)
  • François Schweisguth: Therese Lebrasseur Prize (Fondation de France, 2019)
  • Léo Valon: SBCF Young Researcher Award (2021)

Sustainable DSCB Statement

The impact of human activities on the environment is a well-established scientific consensus. It concerns, among others, climate change, the erosion of biodiversity and the chemical pollution of our environment, which can trigger a large array of tragic consequences, such as the emergence of infectious diseases. Following the longstanding and rigorous studies from the IPCC experts we, members of the Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology at the Institut Pasteur, acknowledge the extent and the emergency of an environmental transition to reduce the environmental footprint of our society as a whole. Just like all citizens, we must do our share in this unprecedented challenge.

Thus, the Department commits to reduce its environmental footprint, in accordance with the French “Stratégie Nationale Bas Carbone”, which aims at keeping global temperature below 1.5 °C compared to the preindustrial period, in line with the international Paris Agreement. Such an ambitious goal requires immediate and collective actions.

Therefore, we commit to:

  1. Consider the environmental footprint of our research practices and promote virtuous options;
  2. Raise awareness among staff about our environmental footprint;
  3. Disseminate good practices among the rest of the Institut Pasteur.

Transforming our practices might not be an easy task. It will require everybody’s effort to tackle such an ambitious transition.

Partners

Featured Projects

project
Ongoing
7 Members

ERC-2023-Synergy : PEPS, Perpetuating Stemness

Laure Bally-Cuif (PI)

Perpetuating stemness Neural stem cell (NSC) populations in the vertebrate brain generate adult-born neurons for plasticity, growth, and repair. Neurogenic and gliogenic capacity, based on long-term NSC maintenance, functionally define “stemness”. Stemness embodies massive […]
project
Ongoing
2 Members

ERC Consolidator Grant PrApEDoC: Predicting Apoptosis Engagement Downstream of Caspasese

Romain Levayer (PI)

Epithelial cell death is widespread during development and tissue homeostasis. While the core pathway of apoptosis is well known, we lack predictive power to understand when and where a specific cell will die in […]
project
Ongoing
6 Members

ERC-2020-CoG RNAiNHERITANCE – Somatic and Germline Mechanisms of Small RNA Inheritance

Germano Cecere (PI)

Inherited information is transmitted to progeny primarily via the genome through the gametes. In recent years, epigenetic inheritance has been demonstrated in several organisms, including animals. Yet, the molecules and mechanisms responsible for this […]
project
Ongoing
8 Members

ERC-2017-COG_BinD – Mitotic Bookmarking, Stem Cells and early Development

Pablo Navarro Gil (PI)

The goal of this project is to deliver a new theoretical framework to understand how transcription factors (TFs) sustain cell identity during developmental processes. Recognised as key drivers of cell fate acquisition, TFs are […]

Featured Publications

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Pictures & Media

Presentation of the history of our department and its main research axes by Etienne Appert (2022)

 

Contact

Doriane Thouvenot Department of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Tel: +33 1 4438 9239 / Email: doriane.thouvenot@pasteur.fr Institut Pasteur 25 rue du Dr. Roux, F-75015, Paris.