SGS: Yonatan Stelzer - Spatiotemporal models of mammalian development

The Stelzer Lab is interested in unraveling one of biology's most intriguing puzzles: how a single fertilized egg develops into a full-fledged embryo through a short period of growth and cellular differentiation, despite every cell sharing the same genetic blueprint. Their research is driven by cutting-edge technologies such as single-cell transcription and epigenome analysis, which allow them to observe embryonic cellular diversification with unparalleled clarity. Recognizing the gap between descriptive single-cell data and its functional understanding, the lab combines developmental biology, epigenetics, computational biology, microscopy, and single-cell epigenomics to bridge this divide. The work spans mammalian models, from mice to rabbits, intending to apply the findings to human studies. The research integrates the analysis of cell state dynamics over time, the role of extracellular cues within the 3D embryonic environment, and the impact of epigenetic modifications on cell identity and memory.

Group leader Yonatan Stelzer joins the Max Planck Special Guest Lecture Series with a talk on “Spatiotemporal models of mammalian development: An epigeneticist's dream or nightmare?”