ISER

Our work on the TET enzymes in retinal development is out. We identified that rod fate is inhibited when DNA demethylation is prevented by removal of the TET enzymes. Interestingly, photoreceptor numbers are normal. We utilized WGBS and bACE-seq to profile the precise localization of 5mC and 5hmC,…

Cellular innovations and diversity in the lepidopteran compound eye - Journal of Comparative Physiology A Lepidoptera, having co-diversified with flowering plants and adapted to various diel niches, present a remarkable system for studying compound eye cell type diversity. Here we synthesize the latest re...

Among insects, lepidoptera 🦋 show one of the most diverse photoreceptor types 👁, explaining diverse spectral sensitivities including a convergent evolution of red vision.

Lu & Kronforst review the lepidopteran eye evolution.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Science is a long game.

Translational science, or clinical medicine is only possibly because of basic science discoveries where the clinical applications are not yet known.

Also: Nobels are typically awarded for basic science… *exploratory* basic science.

True story.

An image of frog rod photoreceptor outer segments. They look round and soft, like a shag carpet.

Shag carpet or frog photoreceptor outer segments! 🐸🧪

Taken during the visual neuroscience course @mblscience.bsky.social

How Targeting a Molecular 'Switch' Could Inspire New Macular Degeneration Treatments. Photo of BrightFocus Foundation Macular Degeneration Research grant recipient Dr. Sandeep Moothedath Subrahmanian.

Dr. Sandeep Moothedath Subrahmanian of Penn State College of Medicine is studying how a “molecular switch” causes a stress response protein, REDD1, to build up and damage retinal cells in early macular degeneration.

His goal: to stop the disease before vision is lost.

Read more: bit.ly/47jUpxN

I am absolutely delighted that my new institution @pittophathalmology.bsky.social has a presence here on Bsky!

So much news coming from them/us over the next little while.

Look at this fantastic project using art to teach kids (and adults!) about the visual system! The Vision Sciences Research Network @reseauvision.bsky.social is happy to support this outreach project led by Maria and Marion!

I start as an Assistant Professor at University of Pittsburgh next month.

Black and white photo of myself and my graduate advisor Robert Marc standing on an elevated walkway. Photo taken in 2015 by @BWJones

View from the 5th floor walkway of the Moran looking west toward downtown Salt Lake City.

From 10 years ago as a grad student with @robertmarc.bsky.social to my last day at the U of Utah today. It’s surreal to look out over the valley one last time. On to the next adventure!

ARPA-H program aims to restore sight to people who are blind The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) supports transformative research to drive biomedical and health breakthroughs ranging from molecular to societal to provide transformative hea...

ARPA-H launches research program to restore sight to people who are blind arpa-h.gov/news-and-eve... Program aims to transplant human eyes and reestablish visual connection to the brain; #THEA (Transplantation of Human Eye Allografts); #neuroscience

A sign that says Research Laboratory with that written in Braille underneath. Bryan Jones, PhD Computational Metabolics & Circuirty

End Of An Era: Computational Metabolomics & Circuitry At The Moran Eye Center
bryanwjones.com/2025/07/end-...

Huge congratulations to Sarah LaPotin from the lab for winning a poster prize at #IZFC2025!!

Activation of dopamine D1 receptors at the axon initial segment-like process of retinal AII amacrine cells modulates action potential firing Dopamine is an important neuromodulator found throughout the central nervous system that can influence neural circuits involved in sensory, motor, and cognitive functions. In the retina, dopamine is r...

Activation of dopamine D1 receptors at the axon initial segment-like process of retinal AII amacrine cells modulates action potential firing

www.jneurosci.org/content/earl...

A human pluripotent stem cell tri-culture platform to elucidate microglial regulation of retinal ganglion cells in neuroinflammation Optic neuropathies, including glaucoma, are characterized by the progressive degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), ultimately leading to irreversible vision loss. Increasing evidence implicat...

Happy to share a new pre-print from the lab. Here we use human stem cell models to explore how microglia modulate retinal ganglion cells in developmental and neuroinflammation, both directly and in concert with astrocytes. Amazing work from PhD student Jade Harkin!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

a picture of a woman with the words this is exciting below her ALT: a picture of a woman with the words this is exciting below her

Exciting news:
⭐I'm thrilled to receive a grant from the Brain Research Foundation! tinyurl.com/2p9ku4sd

⭐"Atypical retinal ganglion cell function in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome" was published! tinyurl.com/htk3ekce

⭐my review on retinal receptive fields was published! tinyurl.com/48b9xbs2

🙏🏼

My starter pack for biology-related societies!

I am aware that I am not a society but I just can't remove myself from my own starter pack 😄

Please comment if I should add you!

#BioStarterPacks #Biology #Science

go.bsky.app/VnnkjQf

It’s been a weird, unproductive week at the lab and I’m feeling a little down. So here are 10 cool facts about vision:

Nice to see my new vice chair and research director @john-ash8831.bsky.social here in Bsky!

UMD Neuroscientist Calls for Clearer Nomenclature in Photoreceptor Research | College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences | University of Maryland A new paper co-authored by Biology’s Juan Angueyra aims to tackle a century-old communication problem by making

Biology Assistant Professor Juan Angueyra is tackling a century-old communication problem in photoreceptor research.

He co-authored a @plosbiology.org paper calling for a standardized method of naming rods and cones across vertebrate species based on shared evolutionary history.

Figure showing that photoreceptor loss in atp11anl1007 mutants is partially light dependent.

Alexia Hawkey-Noble, Cameron Tobin, Curtis French and colleagues find that the P4-phospholipid flippase Atp11a is required for maintenance of eye and ear structure in #zebrafish.
Highlight: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
Article: journals.biologists.com/jcs/article/...
#OpenAccess

What happens when the communication network from our eyes to our brain goes awry?

Sarah Yablonski, a Neuroscience grad student @urochestersmd.bsky.social, studies two molecules that are critical to this communication and to retinal ganglion cell death 👇 #URochesterResearch In a Neuro Minute🧠

An abstract, colorful and pretty image of spatial metabolomic retinal ganglion cells imaged for amino acid metabolism, arranged in 8 blocks of values.

BWJoneslab Moving To The University of Pittsburgh

I can now officially reveal that we are moving the BWJoneslab from the University of Utah, Moran Eye Center to the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Ophthalmology, effective August 1st, 2025.

bryanwjones.com/2025/06/bwjo...

📣 TRAVEL GRANTS AVAILABLE for trainees and young investigators! Deadline: May 26

Don’t miss the opportunity to attend the ISER/BrightFocus Glaucoma Symposium & Fast Track with the support of a travel grant! @iser.bsky.social @brightfocus.bsky.social

👉 iserbrightfocusglaucoma.org/abstract-sub...

I'm asking a favor of everyone here.

Please click this AEVR/NAEVR (vision research advocacy group) link to oppose Schedule F Reclassification of Federal Science Roles by the Trump administration: www.votervoice.net/NAEVR/Campai...

It will help you auto populate fields to your elected reps.

🚨 Final Reminder! 🚨
Don't miss your chance to share your research at the ISER BrightFocus Glaucoma Meeting 2025!
📅 Abstract Submission Deadline: May 27, 2025
🔗 iserbrightfocusglaucoma.org/abstract-sub...
@iser.bsky.social @brightfocus.bsky.social

Functionally distinct GABAergic amacrine cell types regulate spatiotemporal encoding in the mouse retina - Nature Neuroscience GABA is the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Using two-photon GABA imaging, Matsumoto et al. reveal over 40 GABA neuron types in the mouse retina, each uniquely filte...

Our two-photon GABA imaging from mouse retina has been published! Akihiro Matsumoto in my lab spearheaded this project. I want to thank @loogerl.bsky.social for molecular clustering and @janeliagenie.bsky.social for the fantastic iGABASnFR2 sensor!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Green amacrine cells over a murky puddle

Some retinal #SciArt

PTEN regulates starburst amacrine cell dendrite morphology during development Neurons are subject to extensive developmental regulation to ensure precise subtype-specific morphologies that are intimately tied to their function. Starburst amacrine cells (SACs) in the mammalian r...

With all the chaos and destruction of academic research going on in the US right now, it feels a little weird to post this. But....

New preprint from the lab is now live: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

1/n

Avian photoreceptor homologies and the origin of double cones Birds possess the most complex photoreceptor system among vertebrates, with one rod and six cone types, including four single cones (violet, blue, gre…

Liu et al. Avian photoreceptor homologies and the origin of double cones www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #ornithology