This meeting represented the fourth in our highly successful series of events focussing on human developmental biology. Since the initiation of this series of meetings in 2014, we have witnessed huge progress in the field, with more and more researchers turning to stem cell and organoid systems to investigate development and organogenesis in vitro, as well as increased analysis of human embryos and tissues to understand how these processes occur in vivo. Technological advances such as genome editing, single cell sequencing and improvements in tissue engineering now allow us to delve more deeply into the conserved and divergent processes underlying human development. Such knowledge is essential to underpin translational research into developmental disorders, to develop cell and tissue therapies, and to understand the origins and evolution of our own species.

As previously, this meeting brought together researchers working on a diverse set of questions – from early cell fate choices in the human embryo to tissue organogenesis, from genomics and epigenomics to the evolution of human traits. Despite this breadth of interests, the scientists involved were united by common challenges associated with working with human cells and tissues, and by a common goal to understand the similarities and differences between human development and that of other species.