The Bianco lab are really excited to be part of a consortium that has been awarded funding from the EC Horizon 2020 ITN scheme. Our ZENITH (ZEbrafish Neuroscience Interdisciplinary Training Hub) programme will be training 15 graduate students in interdisciplinary systems neuroscience projects investigating sensorimotor processing using larval zebrafish.
Congratulations to everyone in the consortium and especially Claire Wyart and Alexandra Chukas for coordinating it all.
Congratulations to Pedro, who handed in his PhD thesis today!
Charlie returns to start his PhD project in the lab.
Joanna attends FENS 2018
The paper entitled: "Regulation of developing myelin sheath elongation by oligodendrocyte calcium transients in vivo" and published in Nature Neuroscience in 2018 by Anna Krasnow, David Attwell and colleagues, has been shortlisted as a finalist for the MS Society Awards 2018
'In Multiple Sclerosis(MS), the myelin coating that protects our nerves is attacked by the immune system. To stop MS, we need to understand more about how myelin is made and repaired.
The researchers showed that calcium controls the development of myelin in zebrafish. High levels of calcium promoted myelin development whilst low levels prevented myelin development.
These results support further research into myelin development and repair in MS.’
Welcome to Charlie, a Wellcome Trust 4 Yr PhD student who is rotating in the lab. And also Happy Birthday to Megan!
Join Elena Dreosti at the Welcome Trust to discuss: "What makes us social?" and explore how zebrafish help her to answer this question.
Click this link to go to the Wellcome Trust website and see the details for this workshop.
Wednesday 24 January 2018
13:00-14:00
Anna Krasnow, a PhD student on the Wellcome Trust Neuroscience program, has just published her study on myelination in Nature Neuroscience. Anna, who is predominently based in David Attwell's lab at UCL, collaborated with Leo Valdivia in Steve Wilson's group on this work. The resulting paper looks at the role that calcium transients in oligodendrocytes have on the developing myelin sheath. Anna found that neuronal activity raises calcium levels in developing oligodendrocytes and that myelin sheath elongation is promoted by high frequency calcium transients.
Congratulations Anna et al on a beautiful study!
Click this link to read the accompanying News and Views piece on this study in Nature Neuroscience.
The Bianco lab are pleased to welcome two new project students for 2017-18: Holly (MSc) and Dammy (MSci).
Every year we host about 8 A Level Students from various schools and introduce them to the zebrafish as a model system. This year’s bunch was particularly lively and enthusiastic.
They explored a few standard lab techniques, such as (fluorescent) in situ hybridization ((F)ISH), they sorted embryos by phenotype into mutants and siblings and verified the genotype using PCR. Using light-, fluorescent- and confocal microscopy students analysed and documented their (F)ISH results and compared the potential uses of their applied techniques to that of transgenic animals. Finally, students had a short workshop on animal behaviour and learning including hunting, exploratory and circadian/sleep behaviour. Finally, students show-cased their results and what they learned in a presentation which led to a spirited discussion of all topics covered – and beyond. Great fun for everyone involved!
" I would just like to thank you for the incredible experience at the Wilson Lab this week. It was invaluable learning about a career in scientific research and challenging my current A level knowledge. The experience has made me feel more confident for my university interviews and has confirmed my love of science! It was extremely well structured and I am so grateful to everyone who taught us throughout the week. "
The Nvidia Corporation have generously given a hardware grant to the Bianco Lab.
Pictured right is Asaph with the Titan Xp (the world's most powerful grahics card), which we will be using for training Artificial Neural Networks to glean insights into sensorimotor processing.
Congratulations to our most recent Doctor Ingrid Lekk from the Wilson Lab. We are incredibly proud of you! Wishing you all the best for your future!
MSc student Jan wins project prize and is nominated for the Dean's list.
Jan joined the Wilson Lab in October 2016 to conduct his MSc Neuroscience final research project, working with Ana and Gareth to further our understanding of how habenular asymmetries are established in embryonic development.
Jan has recently defended his MSc thesis and we couldn’t be prouder of him! Not only did he graduate with distinction, but also won the prize for the best project and has been nominated for the Dean's List.
Sydney Leaman gets a distinction and the highest mark in his cohort for his project on the role of Mab21l2 in eye formation.
Sydney Leaman is a medicine student who performed his MSc project under the supervision of Leo Valdivia in the Wilson Lab. He studied part of the genetic and molecular events that lead to successful eye development. In particular he focused on the role of Mab21l2, a gene that is essential for eye formation in humans but whose function is unknown. Using the zebrafish model, Sydney tried to unravel the interaction between Mab21l2 and the TGF-β/BMP pathway n viv. Analysing mutant fish he found that ab21l modulates the TGF-β/BMP pathway signalling to regulate the size of the eye. Furthermore, he used Crispr/Cas9 technology to perform sophisticated genome engineering to tag the endogenous ab21l locus.
The information and tools developed by Sydney will illuminate the role of Mab21l2 and will be used for future purification of Mab21l2 in complex with its binding partners. Finding the interactome of Mab21l2 will provide valuable data to understand vertebrate eye development in health and disease
Congratulations Jan & Sydney! We wish you lots of luck and every success in your future career.
Welcome to Asaph Zylbertal who has just joined the Bianco lab.
The image of a mechano-sensory neuron covering the tail fin in a larval zebrafish has been selected as one of the top 100 winning images for the Nikon Small World Competition. The ranking of the selected images will be announced in October so cross your fingers for Kate!
Karin Tuschl wins UCL Neuroscience Early Career Prize.
New Bianco lab member!
Poster prize for Joanna
Everyone is talking about it!
The first PhD, hopefully of many, from the Rihel group.
