Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
@torres-sanchez.bsky.social
Physicist trying to understand the behaviour of living organisms. Group leader at EMBL Barcelona.
Pinned
Stoked to present our latest, superbly led by Chris et al & @torres-sanchez.bsky.social We tackled a fundamental problem – how tissues are patterned during development – found that geometry-constrained ECM fractures pattern the myocardium in the vertebrate heart 1/n www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Imagine being an engineer asked to build a material that withstands 100% strain, 150 times per minute—for a lifetime. Now imagine having to build it while it’s already functioning. That’s exactly what the heart does.
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
It’s time to talk about epithelial geometry and cancer. How can the architecture of an epithelium affect how tumors will grow and spread? In this thread, @jorgealmagro.bsky.social
November 23, 2025 at 8:01 AM
It’s time to talk about epithelial geometry and cancer. How can the architecture of an epithelium affect how tumors will grow and spread? In this thread, @jorgealmagro.bsky.social
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
📢 Paper alert 📢
Chirality is known to be important for the movement of microorganisms and active matter. In our new paper out today in @natphys.nature.com, we show that chirality is used by malaria parasites to control their motion patterns:
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Here comes a 🧵 ... (1/9)
Chirality is known to be important for the movement of microorganisms and active matter. In our new paper out today in @natphys.nature.com, we show that chirality is used by malaria parasites to control their motion patterns:
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Here comes a 🧵 ... (1/9)
November 24, 2025 at 5:50 PM
📢 Paper alert 📢
Chirality is known to be important for the movement of microorganisms and active matter. In our new paper out today in @natphys.nature.com, we show that chirality is used by malaria parasites to control their motion patterns:
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Here comes a 🧵 ... (1/9)
Chirality is known to be important for the movement of microorganisms and active matter. In our new paper out today in @natphys.nature.com, we show that chirality is used by malaria parasites to control their motion patterns:
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Here comes a 🧵 ... (1/9)
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
1/ Cerebral malaria is a severe form of malaria that causes damage to the blood vessels in the brain.
With a #HealthResearch grant, @mariabernabeu.bsky.social uses analytical techniques and human 3D models of blood vessels to ⬆️ our understanding and test new therapies.
https://tinyurl.com/2vtjnwn6
With a #HealthResearch grant, @mariabernabeu.bsky.social uses analytical techniques and human 3D models of blood vessels to ⬆️ our understanding and test new therapies.
https://tinyurl.com/2vtjnwn6
November 20, 2025 at 11:10 AM
1/ Cerebral malaria is a severe form of malaria that causes damage to the blood vessels in the brain.
With a #HealthResearch grant, @mariabernabeu.bsky.social uses analytical techniques and human 3D models of blood vessels to ⬆️ our understanding and test new therapies.
https://tinyurl.com/2vtjnwn6
With a #HealthResearch grant, @mariabernabeu.bsky.social uses analytical techniques and human 3D models of blood vessels to ⬆️ our understanding and test new therapies.
https://tinyurl.com/2vtjnwn6
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
Which features of tissue flows are most robust and how do they emerge from #EpithelialMechanics?
I’m @alex-plum.bsky.social (@mattiaserra.bsky.social group) and I’ll be sharing some papers on characterizing and controlling avian gastrulation flows.
I’m @alex-plum.bsky.social (@mattiaserra.bsky.social group) and I’ll be sharing some papers on characterizing and controlling avian gastrulation flows.
November 2, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Which features of tissue flows are most robust and how do they emerge from #EpithelialMechanics?
I’m @alex-plum.bsky.social (@mattiaserra.bsky.social group) and I’ll be sharing some papers on characterizing and controlling avian gastrulation flows.
I’m @alex-plum.bsky.social (@mattiaserra.bsky.social group) and I’ll be sharing some papers on characterizing and controlling avian gastrulation flows.
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
In our latest interview, Kristina Stapornwongkul, the newest group leader at IMBA, shares her journey to joining the institute, why she chose IMBA as the next step in her career, and her vision for her lab exploring how metabolism shapes embryonic development: https://imba.science/49fCrxl
October 27, 2025 at 8:00 AM
In our latest interview, Kristina Stapornwongkul, the newest group leader at IMBA, shares her journey to joining the institute, why she chose IMBA as the next step in her career, and her vision for her lab exploring how metabolism shapes embryonic development: https://imba.science/49fCrxl
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
📣Announcing the 4th edition of the EMBL‑IBEC Conference on “Engineering Multicellular Systems”, taking place 11–13 March 2026 in Barcelona. Exploring organoids, mechanobiology, embryo models, organ-on-chip systems, multiomics and more. Abstracts open now!
events.ibecbarcelona.eu/embl-ibec-co...
events.ibecbarcelona.eu/embl-ibec-co...
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
📣Announcing the 4th edition of the EMBL‑IBEC Conference on “Engineering Multicellular Systems”, taking place 11–13 March 2026 in Barcelona. Exploring organoids, mechanobiology, embryo models, organ-on-chip systems, multiomics and more. Abstracts open now!
events.ibecbarcelona.eu/embl-ibec-co...
events.ibecbarcelona.eu/embl-ibec-co...
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
Pre-print alert 🚨
We answer a longstanding question in the field. Do immune cells cause cerebral malaria?
The answer is YES!!!! And independently of P. falciparum accumulation in the brain.
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
We answer a longstanding question in the field. Do immune cells cause cerebral malaria?
The answer is YES!!!! And independently of P. falciparum accumulation in the brain.
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Innate immune responses to Plasmodium falciparum disrupt the blood-brain barrier
Plasmodium falciparum accumulation at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a hallmark of cerebral malaria, a life-threatening complication. Conversely, the contribution of the immune response to vascular ...
www.biorxiv.org
October 21, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Pre-print alert 🚨
We answer a longstanding question in the field. Do immune cells cause cerebral malaria?
The answer is YES!!!! And independently of P. falciparum accumulation in the brain.
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
We answer a longstanding question in the field. Do immune cells cause cerebral malaria?
The answer is YES!!!! And independently of P. falciparum accumulation in the brain.
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
Zebrafish embryo undergoing gastrulation. Credit to Dr. Gopi Shah at EMBL. #ZebrafishZunday 🧪
October 19, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Zebrafish embryo undergoing gastrulation. Credit to Dr. Gopi Shah at EMBL. #ZebrafishZunday 🧪
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
Just hot out of the press! Rory developed a 3D microvessel model that recapitulates physiological pericyte coverage. We found that Plasmodium falciparum egress products disrupt the barrier and halt ang-1 secretion. The activator AKB-9778 could rescue barrier disruption! Congratulations, Rory!
Today my main PHD project in the lab of Dr. Maria Bernabeu was published!
Using a 3D brain microvessel model, we show:
1) an unappreciated role of brain pericytes in cerebral malaria pathogenesis
2) Tie-2 activation by AKB-9778 as a potential therapeutic avenue
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
Using a 3D brain microvessel model, we show:
1) an unappreciated role of brain pericytes in cerebral malaria pathogenesis
2) Tie-2 activation by AKB-9778 as a potential therapeutic avenue
www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....
October 18, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Just hot out of the press! Rory developed a 3D microvessel model that recapitulates physiological pericyte coverage. We found that Plasmodium falciparum egress products disrupt the barrier and halt ang-1 secretion. The activator AKB-9778 could rescue barrier disruption! Congratulations, Rory!
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
Biophysicists are realizing that there is an undervalued element at play in early development: Aside from genes, mechanical forces also steer the growth of embryos. @annademming.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/genes-have-h...
Genes Have Harnessed Physics to Help Grow Living Things | Quanta Magazine
The same pulling force that causes “tears” in a glass of wine also shapes embryos. It’s another example of how genes exploit mechanical forces for growth and development.
www.quantamagazine.org
October 10, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Biophysicists are realizing that there is an undervalued element at play in early development: Aside from genes, mechanical forces also steer the growth of embryos. @annademming.bsky.social reports: www.quantamagazine.org/genes-have-h...
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
I am super excited to announce that we have a tenure-track faculty position in biophysics open in the Department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon! 🧪
Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360
PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies!
Let me briefly explain what we're looking for:
1/10
Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360
PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies!
Let me briefly explain what we're looking for:
1/10
September 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
I am super excited to announce that we have a tenure-track faculty position in biophysics open in the Department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon! 🧪
Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360
PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies!
Let me briefly explain what we're looking for:
1/10
Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360
PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies!
Let me briefly explain what we're looking for:
1/10
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
Please allow me to introduce... our new preprint 🎉 Together with Michael Zhao, Anna Erzberger and Alexander Aulehla, we investigate pattern formation due to aggregation in confined systems.
You can find it at arxiv.org/abs/2509.08533
@michaelzhao.bsky.social @erzbergerlab.bsky.social
You can find it at arxiv.org/abs/2509.08533
@michaelzhao.bsky.social @erzbergerlab.bsky.social
September 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Please allow me to introduce... our new preprint 🎉 Together with Michael Zhao, Anna Erzberger and Alexander Aulehla, we investigate pattern formation due to aggregation in confined systems.
You can find it at arxiv.org/abs/2509.08533
@michaelzhao.bsky.social @erzbergerlab.bsky.social
You can find it at arxiv.org/abs/2509.08533
@michaelzhao.bsky.social @erzbergerlab.bsky.social
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
Have you ever wondered what happens with your microvessels after exposure to high temperature in fever? In this preprint former postdoc (ans soon to be PI) Viola Introini found that high temperatures cleaves glycocalyx , having severe consequences in malaria www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Febrile temperature enhances Plasmodium falciparum cytoadhesion by disrupting the endothelial glycocalyx
Fever, a universal host defense in infection and inflammation, paradoxically contributes to neurological complications in malaria. While febrile temperatures enhance the expression of parasite virulen...
www.biorxiv.org
September 9, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Have you ever wondered what happens with your microvessels after exposure to high temperature in fever? In this preprint former postdoc (ans soon to be PI) Viola Introini found that high temperatures cleaves glycocalyx , having severe consequences in malaria www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
Very excited to share - the ERC StG is a game-changer for us 🙏 We're going to learn the rules for timing control across cell types in the embryo and we think we can tune them too 🎛️ ⏳📈- reach out if you’d like to be involved !
📣 The ERC Starting Grant call results are out!
Find out which early-career researchers will receive funding this year, what they will be investigating, where they will be based... plus lots of other #ERCStG facts & figures for 2025!
➡️ buff.ly/IsafuFh
#FrontierResearch 🇪🇺#EUfunded #HorizonEurope
Find out which early-career researchers will receive funding this year, what they will be investigating, where they will be based... plus lots of other #ERCStG facts & figures for 2025!
➡️ buff.ly/IsafuFh
#FrontierResearch 🇪🇺#EUfunded #HorizonEurope
September 4, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Very excited to share - the ERC StG is a game-changer for us 🙏 We're going to learn the rules for timing control across cell types in the embryo and we think we can tune them too 🎛️ ⏳📈- reach out if you’d like to be involved !
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
The theory was part of my PhD work at KU Leuven with @lendertgelens.bsky.social, experimental work by colleagues in Leuven, the Yang lab (U Michigan) and Ferrell lab (Stanford).
Find the paper here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Find the paper here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Mechanistic origins of temperature scaling in the early embryonic cell cycle - Nature Communications
Researchers reveal mechanisms underlying non-Arrhenius temperature scaling of early embryonic cell cycle timing, using modeling, cross-species data, and reconstituted oscillations in frog egg extract.
www.nature.com
August 29, 2025 at 2:06 PM
The theory was part of my PhD work at KU Leuven with @lendertgelens.bsky.social, experimental work by colleagues in Leuven, the Yang lab (U Michigan) and Ferrell lab (Stanford).
Find the paper here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Find the paper here:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
We are searching for an enthusiastic scientist to join our team and establish annual killifish as a model system for early developmental biology and biophysics! @embl.org @embldbunit.bsky.social
Apply here:
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/EMBL/job/Hei...
Please re-post 🙏
Apply here:
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/EMBL/job/Hei...
Please re-post 🙏
August 8, 2025 at 9:01 AM
We are searching for an enthusiastic scientist to join our team and establish annual killifish as a model system for early developmental biology and biophysics! @embl.org @embldbunit.bsky.social
Apply here:
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/EMBL/job/Hei...
Please re-post 🙏
Apply here:
embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/EMBL/job/Hei...
Please re-post 🙏
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
Papafilippou, E., Baldauf, L., Charras, G., Kabla, A. J., & Bonfanti, A. (2025). Interplay of damage and repair in the control of epithelial tissue integrity in response to cyclic loading. Current opinion in cell biology, 94, 102511. #EpithelialMechanicsReview
buff.ly/Qzj8OWl
buff.ly/Qzj8OWl
August 7, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Papafilippou, E., Baldauf, L., Charras, G., Kabla, A. J., & Bonfanti, A. (2025). Interplay of damage and repair in the control of epithelial tissue integrity in response to cyclic loading. Current opinion in cell biology, 94, 102511. #EpithelialMechanicsReview
buff.ly/Qzj8OWl
buff.ly/Qzj8OWl
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
We are happy to show one ourt first exciting papers. We have developed a blood-brain barrier model to study the disruptive effects caused by the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.
First, congratulations to the fearless @liviapiatti.bsky.social and @alinabatzi.bsky.social
rdcu.be/ezBl7
First, congratulations to the fearless @liviapiatti.bsky.social and @alinabatzi.bsky.social
rdcu.be/ezBl7
Plasmodium falciparum egress disrupts endothelial junctions and activates JAK-STAT signaling in a microvascular 3D blood-brain barrier model
Nature Communications - Here the authors show that Plasmodium falciparum egress products disrupt endothelial barrier and activate JAK-STAT and interferon type response in a 3D blood-brain barrier...
rdcu.be
August 7, 2025 at 7:27 AM
We are happy to show one ourt first exciting papers. We have developed a blood-brain barrier model to study the disruptive effects caused by the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.
First, congratulations to the fearless @liviapiatti.bsky.social and @alinabatzi.bsky.social
rdcu.be/ezBl7
First, congratulations to the fearless @liviapiatti.bsky.social and @alinabatzi.bsky.social
rdcu.be/ezBl7
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
Out now! Our very first [email protected], an impressive feat by @tobyandrews.bsky.social where we show how a developing heart grows and scales up its morphological complexity to keep beating...an excellent summary below ⬇️
www.cell.com/developmenta...
www.cell.com/developmenta...
August 6, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Out now! Our very first [email protected], an impressive feat by @tobyandrews.bsky.social where we show how a developing heart grows and scales up its morphological complexity to keep beating...an excellent summary below ⬇️
www.cell.com/developmenta...
www.cell.com/developmenta...
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
Our study on endothelial mechanics made the news! 🤩
Super nice and clear article on our findings and their implications.
www.snexplores.org/article/how-...
Super nice and clear article on our findings and their implications.
www.snexplores.org/article/how-...
Here’s why your blood vessels don’t burst under pressure
Cells lining the blood vessels reorganize their inner structures to handle stressful boosts in pressure.
www.snexplores.org
July 17, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Our study on endothelial mechanics made the news! 🤩
Super nice and clear article on our findings and their implications.
www.snexplores.org/article/how-...
Super nice and clear article on our findings and their implications.
www.snexplores.org/article/how-...
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
Between his code-breaking work during World War II and his death in 1954, Alan Turing proposed a mechanism for pattern formation that has been identified in the arrangement of bacteria, stripes on seashells and even the distribution of human settlements.
Turing Patterns Turn Up in a Tiny Crystal | Quanta Magazine
The mechanism behind leopard spots and zebra stripes also appears to explain the patterned growth of a bismuth crystal, extending Alan Turing’s 1952 idea to the atomic scale.
quantamagazine.org
July 6, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Between his code-breaking work during World War II and his death in 1954, Alan Turing proposed a mechanism for pattern formation that has been identified in the arrangement of bacteria, stripes on seashells and even the distribution of human settlements.
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
New preprint out! We show how cellular nematic order can be harnessed to program tissue-wide force fields and guide 3D shape transformations.
The tissue morphogenesis logic, now engineered into living, programmable materials.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#ActiveMatter #TissueEngineering
The tissue morphogenesis logic, now engineered into living, programmable materials.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#ActiveMatter #TissueEngineering
June 30, 2025 at 7:53 AM
New preprint out! We show how cellular nematic order can be harnessed to program tissue-wide force fields and guide 3D shape transformations.
The tissue morphogenesis logic, now engineered into living, programmable materials.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#ActiveMatter #TissueEngineering
The tissue morphogenesis logic, now engineered into living, programmable materials.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#ActiveMatter #TissueEngineering
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
A study from @compscioxford.bsky.social finds Uber’s dynamic pricing leads to higher fares for riders, lower earnings for drivers, and more revenue for the company.
Read more ⬇️
Read more ⬇️
New Oxford research reveals Uber’s algorithmic pricing leaves drivers
A new study from researchers in the University of Oxford’s Department of Computer Science has found that Uber’s use of dynamic pricing has led to higher fares for passengers and lower earnings for
www.ox.ac.uk
June 23, 2025 at 1:33 PM
A study from @compscioxford.bsky.social finds Uber’s dynamic pricing leads to higher fares for riders, lower earnings for drivers, and more revenue for the company.
Read more ⬇️
Read more ⬇️
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
Almost all Nobel Prizes are awarded for work that is exploratory, or absolutely basic science with no obvious commercial or medical benefit.
You cannot predict where advancements come from, so you have to invest in science and scientists.
Targeted (corporate) science investment will never do this.
You cannot predict where advancements come from, so you have to invest in science and scientists.
Targeted (corporate) science investment will never do this.
Reminder: Nobel-prize winning PCR (1983), used in basically all genetic tech today, was only possible because of extremophile bacterium discovered in 1964 in Yellowstone funded by a small ~$80k NSF grant with no obvious application at the time. #science 🧪
www.richmondscientific.com/how-a-discov...
www.richmondscientific.com/how-a-discov...
How a discovery in Yellowstone National Park led to the development of PCR - Richmond Scientific
A discovery in Yellowstone National Park led to the development of PCR, the gold-standard COVID-19 tests used to fight the global pandemic.
www.richmondscientific.com
June 8, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Almost all Nobel Prizes are awarded for work that is exploratory, or absolutely basic science with no obvious commercial or medical benefit.
You cannot predict where advancements come from, so you have to invest in science and scientists.
Targeted (corporate) science investment will never do this.
You cannot predict where advancements come from, so you have to invest in science and scientists.
Targeted (corporate) science investment will never do this.
Reposted by Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
It has been a pretty intense and busy week (both for students and trainers) at the @embo.org @embl.org @barcelonacollaboratorium.com practical course 'Computational Modelling of Multicellular Systems' 🤓💻
Looking forward to future editions!
@epimechfc.bsky.social @i2sysbio.es
Looking forward to future editions!
@epimechfc.bsky.social @i2sysbio.es
June 21, 2025 at 10:02 AM
It has been a pretty intense and busy week (both for students and trainers) at the @embo.org @embl.org @barcelonacollaboratorium.com practical course 'Computational Modelling of Multicellular Systems' 🤓💻
Looking forward to future editions!
@epimechfc.bsky.social @i2sysbio.es
Looking forward to future editions!
@epimechfc.bsky.social @i2sysbio.es