The Milinkovitch-Tzika lab

A study by UNIGE @LANEVOL uncovers a fundamental mechanism that determines how hair follicles organize their positions on the skin of mammals. ow.ly/Z50G50ZkYEE

How mammals get their fur? New PNAS research from the Milinkovitch-Tzika lab shows that chemotaxis—cells moving toward chemical cues—drives hair follicle precursor self-organization during embryonic skin development, from lab mouse to spiny mouse. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2…

New in @PNASNexus : with Soft BioRobotics Perception Lab (IIT, Genova), we show how Asian elephant trunk skin resolves a grasp–protect paradox: dorsal shield, flexible ventral gripper, and touch-amplifying papillae. doi.org/10.1093/pnasne… @IIT_SBRP

🎂 Le journaliste scientifique et naturaliste Sir David Attenborough, célébré dans le monde anglo-saxon pour ses émissions de vulgarisation sur la BBC, a 100 ans ce vendredi 8 mai. Pour marquer cet anniversaire et rendre hommage à «l’homme qui a aidé le monde à tomber amoureux de la nature», le Laboratory of Artificial & Natural Evolution @LANEVOL de l’UNIGE a ressuscité Charles Darwin en personne – sans IA! 🤖 Le LANE réunit des biologistes, des bioinformaticiens, des physiciens, des informaticiens, des mathématiciens et des artistes 3D, pour étudier plusieurs espèces modèles non classiques, principalement des reptiles et des mammifères «exotiques». Ces travaux apportent un éclairage sur des processus biologiques et physiques passionnants, mais encore méconnus, à l'origine du monde du vivant complexe et diversifié 🍀. Voir la vidéo ici 👉youtube.com/watch?v=oAwsMk… @genevunige @Biologie_UNIGE @sciences_UNIGE @DavidALifeFilm

Charles Darwin comes back to life to celebrate Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday. Our 3.5-min film from the LANE (University of Geneva). Happy #AttenboroughDay ! youtu.be/oAwsMkMdAMA @BBCearth @DavidALifeFilm @Biologie_UNIGE @sciences_UNIGE

Two new features spotlight research from the Milinkovitch lab: @QuantaMagazine on skin mechanical cracking in African elephants, and @HorizonMagEU on how elephant trunk biomechanics can inspire soft robotic grippers. #Biomechanics #SoftRobotics lanevol.org/news/article/e…

Modelling the dexterity of the elephant trunk for Soft Robotics! 🐘 Our 3D dynamic model maps trunk shapes directly to internal forces, predicting biological trajectories with <8% error. New study in @iScience_CP . Read: doi.org/10.1016/j.isci…

Many thanks to Nancy Steinacker, Barb Matt, and Bruce Bradley for the incredible visit to the Linda Hall Library @LindaHall_org. A real highlight: seeing first editions of Newton’s Principia and Darwin’s On the Origin of Species.

Grateful that my lecture at the #StowersSeminarSeries had such a positive impact! Huge thanks to Tatjana and the @LabPiotrowski team, and to all the PIs, staff, and students who shared their inspiring research. @ScienceStowers is truly an outstanding place for science.

More about the research behind these models: youtube.com/playlist?list=… #DevelopmentalBiology #Biophysics #Morphogenesis #DPG

If you would like one for teaching or outreach, you can order your own 3D prints here: lanevol.org/visual-media/o…

Fascinating discussions yesterday at the 2026 Spring Meeting of the German Physical Society (DPG) in Dresden. Thanks to @Franze_Lab for the invitation to speak about tissue mechanics. Our 3D prints of crocodile embryos sparked a lot of curiosity among researchers and students.

Turn scientific data into tangible objects! Some of our 3D models can be downloaded or ordered as 3D prints at low cost (resin + delivery only). Perfect for teaching and research discussions. lanevol.org/visual-media/o… #3DPrinting #STEM #OpenScience

Discover how our research comes to life in 3D! Explore digital 3D models from surface scanning and advanced microscopy directly on our website, with scientific context, videos, and VR/AR options. ➡️ lanevol.org/3d-models #3DModels #Microscopy #OpenScience

Our research on reptile pigmentation is featured on the cover of Genetics 🧬🦎 We uncover how mutations in TYR, SLC24A5, and OCA2 shape hypomelanism in snakes & geckos, revealing modular and flexible melanogenesis. @GeneticsGSA @UNIGEnews 🔗academic.oup.com/genetics/artic…

Our research on snake skin color patterning is featured in The Scientist! 🐍🎨 Athanasia Tzika explains how comparative genomics and CRISPR-Cas9 revealed the key role of specific genes in establishing corn snake skin color patterns. 🔗 the-scientist.com/how-do-snakes-…

[7] Physical Review Research 7 (2025) journals.aps.org/prresearch/abs… Check our news here: lanevol.org/news

[4] Physical Review Letters 128, 48102 (2022) link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/Ph… [5] Current biology 32 : 5069-5082.e13 (2022) doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.… [6] Physical Review X 13, 41011 (2023) doi.org/10.1103/PhysRe…

Rewatching #PrehistoricPlanet with my kids and loving how artists @MPCVFX show dinosaurs with scale-by-scale skin colors, similar to some lizards and snakes. Check how our research uncovers the mechanisms behind this phenomenon: