“I think it’s a real mistake to forget where the pipeline for all this begins.”
John Diffley reflects on the importance of basic research, his mission to decode DNA replication and recreate it in the lab, and the scientific optimism of the 1960s that helped shape it.
www.crick.ac.uk/news/2026-03...
This work is the product of an outstanding multidisciplinary team operating across multiple countries.
Special congrats to Safe Khan, lead author of the study. And congrats to all authors and supporting institutions!
doi.org/10.1107/S160...
@safekhan.bsky.social @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social
#paper:
Drying tissue samples enhances contrast in X-ray phase contrast imaging while largely preserving ultrastructure. 🧠🔬
doi.org/10.1107/S160...
@safekhan.bsky.social @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social
@crick.ac.uk @embl.org @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social @esrf.fr @uclnpp.bsky.social
“We’re hoping doors will open for researchers to ask questions about how connections are made in the brain in mice and maybe, one day, humans.” - @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social
Read about the new NIH-funded program to map brain circuitry using X-rays: www.crick.ac.uk/news/2026-03...
The project will be co-led by @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social at the Crick and Chris Jacobsen at Northwestern University, working with @esrf.fr . It is part of the NIH’s BRAIN CONNECTS programme to map neural connections in humans and animals.
Very excited to host today's #MedicineAtTheCrick event @crick.ac.uk - Interfacing the brain: from Neurons to Networks.
Amazing line-up and looking forward to great talks and discussions. #BCI
Angelique Paulk
Kai Miller
David Brandman
Harith Akram
Mariska Vansteensel
Job alert!
Join the Making Lab at the @crick.ac.uk.
As a senior engineer in system design, programming, and hardware–software integration, you'll develop systems that make unique experiments possible.
More about the role and apply here: crick.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job...
Job alert!
Join the Making Lab at the @crick.ac.uk.
As a senior engineer in system design, programming, and hardware–software integration, you'll develop systems that make unique experiments possible.
More about the role and apply here:
crick.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job...
From @bdpedigo.bsky.social: a super efficient, highly reliable, and very generalizable method for mesh structure classification, applied here to spine detection across basically every synapse onto a cell in the MICRoNS dataset.
Book your free tickets now for our next #MedicineAtTheCrick event on Thursday 12 March, hosted by @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social, where researchers and clinicians will explore ‘neurotechnologies’ that help us better understand and decode the brain.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/medicine-a...
🔬🔦Our latest ‘Imaging spotlight’, by @carlesbosch.bsky.social, Ana Diaz, @adrianawanner.bsky.social & @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social, highlights the non-destructive X-ray tomography pipeline that the authors developed to map mouse brain ultrastructure & considers future applications & developments.
Here's a spotlight article on our recent study!
Tissue ultrastructure can be resolved with X-rays, which impacts not only how we can study neuronal circuits but soft tissues more generally.
Kudos to Ana Diaz, @adrianawanner.bsky.social, @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social and all authors.
An optimized X-ray nanotomography method offers an attractive alternative to volume EM for connectomics. @crick.ac.uk @psich.bsky.social psich.bsky.social @adrianawanner.bsky.social @andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social @ucl.ac.uk @uclnpp.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
By repurposing a radiation-hard epoxy resin from the nuclear/aerospace industry, we made samples withstand >1.15×10¹⁰ Gy and reached sub-40 nm resolution, revealing axons, dendrites, mitochondria and synapses without sectioning.
In a fantastic collaboration co-led by Ana Diaz (@psich.bsky.social), Carles Bosch @carlesbosch.bsky.social) and Andreas Schaefer (@andreas-t-schaefer.bsky.social) from @crick.ac.uk,we tackled a key barrier in X-ray ultrastructural imaging: achieving <40 nm resolution without destroying tissue.
... but also DM if interested in experimental / computational (or mixed) connectomics postdoc positions
DM me if you are keen to join the team - open positions:
(1) computational imaging postdoc: multislice & beyond DOF reconstructions - crick.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job...
(2) experimental, permanent senior scientist: X-ray, EM, sample prep… crick.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job...
X-rays can resolve ultrastructure - milestone for ultrastructure imaging w/o cutting. Thanks to an amazing team -
@carlesbosch.bsky.social
@adrianawanner.bsky.social
Ana Diaz and collaborators
@crick.ac.uk
@psich.bsky.social and
@esrf.fr
and funders
@wellcometrust.bsky.social
@ukri.org
If you are looking for an experimental X-ray connectomics postdoc please DM as well
First two positions:
(1) computational imaging postdoc: multislice & beyond depth of field reconstructions - crick.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job...
(2) experimental, permanent senior scientist: X-ray tomography, EM, sample prep… crick.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job...
Enthusiastic about connectomics and X-rays?
Several positions in our group at Crick for postdocs and senior scientists (permanent!).
DM me if interested – and let’s talk if you are at Sfn next days or at the NIH BRAIN CONNECTS meeting today!
Please share!
Join us at Crick - amazing team and great colleagues to collaborate on exciting design and development projects
Bit more than 2 weeks to go...
DM me if you will be in San Diego at SfN and want to talk about it. Please share.
Very excited to continue our amazing collaboration with @apacureanu.bsky.social at @esrf.fr - thank you @wellcometrust.bsky.social and all the collaborators at @crick.ac.uk and @esrf.fr
To emphasize: It doesn't matter what aspect of life science you are interested in - we have ancient genomics, computational neuroscience, philosophy of science, cancer biology... anything fits!
The Crick is an absolutely amazing place to work in - please share this opportunity widely with your colleagues and postdocs - and DM me if I can help in any way
Judging by the last ones, this will be amazing - and with all the new developments at next gen synchrotrons, even more timely. Please re-post, join in person if you can travel to London or via zoom
