News

07 Sep 2026

From Elephant Biology to Soft Robotics: A New Bio-Inspired Robotic Arm

Researchers have developed a large-scale soft robotic arm inspired by the African elephant trunk. The study, co-authored by Michel Milinkovitch, demonstrates how principles derived from elephant biomechanics can help design more adaptable robotic systems.
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Different developmental roads to similar pigment cells
24 Aug 2026

Different developmental roads to similar pigment cells

New study reveals conserved yet flexible mechanisms driving reptile chromatophore differentiation. Milinkovitch-Tzika lab team identified novel cell subtypes in snakes & bearded dragons.
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How mammals get their fur?
06 Jul 2026

How mammals get their fur?

Chemotaxis explains how mammalian hair follicle patterns self-organize.
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The LANE resurrects Charles Darwin for Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday
08 May 2026

The LANE resurrects Charles Darwin for Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday

Watch the stunning video celebrating David Attenborough’s 100th birthday.
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01 May 2026

Elephants in the spotlight: from skin cracking to soft robotics

Milinkovitch’s lab reveals that elephant skin cracks as a stiff epidermis bends over microscopic bumps, forming a water‑retaining network for cooling. Their study of the trunk’s simple deformation patterns is now informing flexible soft‑robotic grippers.
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26 Mar 2026

Mechanical forces drive the diversity of life

A study by the UNIGE and the EMBL hows how the variety of species morphology results from the diversity of the mechanical properties of tissues.
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26 Mar 2026

Prehistoric fish: coelacanths heard underwater using their lungs

A study by UNIGE and MHNG shows that 240-million-year-old coelacanths could hear underwater using an ossified lung.
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19 Jan 2026

Our Research Featured on the Cover of Genetics

Research from the Milinkovitch Lab on hypomelanism in reptiles is featured on the cover of Genetics.
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22 Aug 2025

In the Neolithic, agriculture established itself gradually

A study from UNIGE shows that European hunter-gatherers and farmers from Anatolia mixed gradually during the Neolithic.
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27 Jun 2025

Alexandros Tsoupas wins the 2025 PSLS Annual Thesis Prize

His thesis, "Inferring Population Dynamics During Past Expansion Events Using Spatiotemporal Molecular Patterns", explores how genetic data distributed across space and time can reveal the demographic processes underlying past population expansions.
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Latest News

07 Sep 2026

From Elephant Biology to Soft Robotics: A New Bio-Inspired Robotic Arm

Researchers have developed a large-scale soft robotic arm inspired by the African elephant trunk. The study, co-authored by Michel Milinkovitch, demonstrates how principles derived from elephant biomechanics can help design more adaptable robotic systems.
24 Aug 2026

Different developmental roads to similar pigment cells

New study reveals conserved yet flexible mechanisms driving reptile chromatophore differentiation. Milinkovitch-Tzika lab team identified novel cell subtypes in snakes & bearded dragons.
All news

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14 Sep 2026

Internal Seminar

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A50A, Sciences III
21 Sep 2026

Internal Seminar

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Latest Publications

Aug 2026

Thermal responses and Symbiodiniaceae shuffling in a Red Sea foraminifer holobiont.

ISME communications
Jul 2026

Conserved and lineage-specific mechanisms drive chromatophore differentiation in reptiles.

Nature communications
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