Many organisms on earth have evolved an endogenous self-sustained pacemaker, called the circadian clock, to anticipate daily changes in the environment and adapt its physiology. The circadian clock…
Tag: Publication
Turning the ON off: Sculpting One of Two Dendritic Branches in a Retinal Neuron [Sanes Lab]
The dendritic arbors of neurons are incredibly diverse in size and shape. This makes sense, because dendritic morphology is a critical determinant of the numbers and types of…
When Bacteria Get Stressed [Losick Lab]
All cells need to sense and respond to different stresses in their local environment in order to survive and grow, and bacteria are certainly no exception. The model…
Phosphatases and Proteases are Distant Relatives [Losick and Gaudet Labs]
Diverse cellular and developmental processes are controlled by reversible phosphorylation – the process by which phosphates are added or removed from proteins. Reversible protein phosphorylation is widely used…
Go Against the Flow [Engert Lab]
Understanding brain function generally requires a deep engagement with the matter at least at two separate levels. These are the level of behavioral algorithms on the one hand…
The First Nanoscale Rendering of an Entire Vertebrate Brain
People frequently operate computer devices such as smartphones that collect user input and process this information to produce outputs on a display or through headphones. Engineers control how…
Pairing Off to Work: Nucleating Gene Silencing by Direct Interactions of Homologous Double-stranded DNA Molecules [Kleckner Lab]
The genomes of most eukaryotic organisms, including humans, contain large amounts of repetitive DNA organized in the form of heterochromatin. As a result, this specialized chromatin state plays…
Do Not Go Rhythmless into That Good Night [O’Shea Lab]
The cycle of day and night is one of the most recurrent and predictable environmental change on our planet. Consequently, organisms evolved mechanisms that give them an ability…
Good Parent, Bad Parent: The Evolution of Parental Care in Monogamous Mice [Hoekstra and Dulac Labs]
Parental care is crucial for the survival of mammals, yet species vary widely in the extent and type of care they give to their young. In species where…
Who Moved My Arm? Learning from Performance Error [Uchida Lab]
You head to your favorite coffee shop, order a cappuccino, and when the barista calls your name, you grab your coffee. Imagine, however, you grab the wrong cup…
