News & updates

This is our news section: here, we’ll share what’s happening in and around the lab! From team outings and celebrations to exciting research talks, conference presentations, and new publications, this is the place to stay updated. We’ll also highlight the arrival of new members, bid farewell to those moving on to new adventures, and showcase the achievements and milestones of our team. Stay tuned!

Farewell lunch for Qiulin

News published: 27 August 2026

Today, we enjoyed a lovely lunch together as a lab to celebrate Qiulin and wish him all the best for the next chapter of his journey. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Qiulin’s achievements and enjoy some time together outside the lab.

We’ll miss having Qiulin around and wish him every success and happiness in his future adventures. Congratulations, Qiulin, and thank you for all your hard work and contributions to the lab! 🎉

New publication and recognition for our preprint

News published: 20 August 2026

Great to see our latest work now published in The EMBO Journal: In-situ cryo-ET of mouse embryos reveals cytoplasmic lattices contain ubiquitin-charged E2-E3 ligase assemblies.

The study, led by Katarina Harasimov, together with colleagues at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, investigates the structure and function of cytoplasmic lattices in early mammalian embryos.

We are also very happy to share that the preprint was selected among the top 1% of bioRxiv papers from the past year, recognised by QED Science. A fantastic achievement and great recognition of the impact and interest in this work!

Congratulations to Ina and all the collaborators involved in this work! 👏🎉

Welcoming Nour to the Niakan Lab!

News published: 20 August 2026

This summer, we are delighted to welcome Nour to the Niakan Lab as a summer student through the University of Cambridge’s Experience Postgrad Life Sciences (EPLS) programme.

The EPLS programme offers undergraduate students the opportunity to spend time in a research laboratory during 8 weeks. Through their placements, students develop practical research skills, learn more about life in an academic research environment, and get the opportunity to explore whether a future career in research could be right for them.

We are very pleased to have Nour as part of the team this summer and hope she has a fantastic and rewarding experience with us!

**Congratulations to Oliver Bower, Ina Harasimov and everybody involved on the publication of our latest findings in Nature!**

The study, “Base editing reveals an essential role for NANOG in human embryogenesis,” demonstrates for the first time how precision base editing can be used to investigate gene function in human embryos. The work reveals that the gene NANOG is indispensable for the formation of the epiblast, and it is therefore also essential for human embryo development at an early stage.

The publication has already attracted significant media attention. Highlights include coverage by:

Congratulations once again to everyone who contributed to this landmark achievement!

**Credit:** Katarina Harasimov, Oliver Bower and Kathy Niakan

Congrats Dr Huang!

News published: 21 May 2026

Yesterday was Qiulin’s viva and he passed without corrections! We are so proud of all the hard work and dedication that led to this achievement! Thanks so much to everybody that joined the celebration!

New review published – Congratulations to Jo!

News published: 30 April 2026

Jo and colleagues have published a new review in Development. This review explores the evolutionary history of the extra-embryonic endoderm, an evolutionarily ancient tissue co-opted to form the yolk sac, and explores how in vitro models are uncovering its biology.

Read the full article here. Please join us in congratulating Jo, Ana, Tereza and Kathy on this incredible achievement!

Congratulations to Ahmed on his publication!

News published: 23 October 2025

We are beyond excited to celebrate Dr. Ahmed Abdelbaki for publishing his latest groundbreaking research in Nature Biotechnology: “Live imaging of late-stage preimplantation human embryos reveals de novo mitotic errors”!

Ahmed’s work provides fascinating new insights into early human development, using advanced light-sheet microscopy to reveal mitotic errors in human embryos arise much later than anticipated.

The paper has attracted remarkable international attention, with features in BBC News, New Scientist, Medical Xpress, EurekAlert!, Bioengineer.org, and more. These stories highlight how Ahmed’s work is sparking important conversations. Here’s a selection of recent coverage:

In addition, our own lab shared the news on social media — see our post on Bluesky.

Please join us in congratulating Ahmed on this incredible achievement!

Lab retreat 2025

News published: 16 September 2025

On 15th of September, we held our lab retreat at the Eddington Postdoc Centre for the first time in a while! We kicked things off with icebreaker games to get to know each other better, followed by workshops on media training and lab finances.

The day wrapped up with a fun Lab Olympics, and we celebrated our retreat winners who worked together to claim victory. It was wonderful to see such engagement and collaboration across the lab—a true reflection of the amazing team spirit we share.

Celebrating Oliver’s PhD Viva!

News published: 5 June 2025

Big congratulations to Oliver, who completed their PhD viva on 4th June! We are so proud of all the hard work and dedication that led to this achievement.

Oliver presents a poster at STEM for Britain 2025 in Parliament

On Tuesday 11th March 2025, Oliver had the exciting opportunity to present a research poster at the Parliamentary & Scientific Committee’s STEM for Britain 2025 event, held at the Houses of Parliament. This annual competition celebrates the outstanding work of early-career researchers across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Oliver’s participation highlighted the importance of innovative research and provided a valuable platform to engage with MPs, policymakers, and fellow scientists from across the UK. It was a proud moment to see our work showcased at such a high-profile national event!

Lab outing – Escape room!

This past October, we all dove into an escape room adventure—a fun and challenging way to put our teamwork to the test! It was an awesome opportunity to strengthen our collaboration, problem-solving skills, and, of course, share some laughs along the way.

Lab outing – Fitzwilliam Museum

Now that the rain has started in Cambridge, we took the perfect opportunity to visit the Fitzwilliam Museum. Wandering through incredible art and history, we had a great time exploring, sharing thoughts, and maybe even discovering some hidden artistic talents among us!

Farewell/welcome lunch

A public dialogue on early human embryo research

This Saturday 15th of June 2023, our group participated in a public dialogue on early human embryo research. We delivered online webinars discussing the current knowledge in the field and contributed to in-person workshops in London. We engaged with members of the public, answered their questions, discussed the ethical and scientific considerations of extending the 14-day limit of human embryo culture, and helped gauge public views on this topic.

Fun outing – Punting in Cambridge

Our team had a fantastic day punting in Cambridge! It was a great way to relax, enjoy the beautiful scenery, and spend time together outside of the usual routine.