Thanks Alex! Let’s chat!!

These rankings are kinda silly… but hey, we’re #1 🍾🥂🥳

7/7 We hope Perturb-CLEAR helps connect genomics & neuroanatomy: how mutations reshape circuit-relevant cytoarchitecture in disease: multimodal data matters!

Thank you Joshua Levin, William Yang, awesome collaborators & team, especially the phenomenal Boli Wu leading this! -FIN-

6/7 Paired in vivo Perturb-seq revealed matched molecular phenotypes, allowing us to ask when transcriptional disruption propagates into structural remodeling. In some cases, the two modalities aligned strongly; in others, molecular change and structural outcome diverged

5/7 We then applied Perturb-CLEAR to KO neurodevelopmental disorder genes and found perturbation effects were not uniform: Different genes produced distinct outcomes, with specific vulnerabilities emerging across cell types and across different parts of dendritic architecture

4/7 We mapped how structure changes over time in WT neurons and related those dynamics to RNA programs, revealing coordinated and highly structured remodeling e.g. ASD risk genes were enriched in “stabilizing” program, pointing to an early postnatal window of vulnerability

3/7 TLDR: we use in vivo CRISPR+whole-brain imaging to capture cytoarchitectures📸 Transcriptional signal alone does not reliably predict structural outcomes. To understand how disease genes reshape the circuit, we need multimodal readouts on molecular state + cellular form!

2/7 Many of us ask how genetics reshapes the brain at the level of cellular structure. We now can profile molecular outcomes w scRNAseq at scale, but morphology - especially long-range cytoarchetecture - has remained much harder to measure systematically in pooled screens in vivo

Form follows function, or function dictates form?

📢Preprint: we build Perturb-CLEAR, in vivo screen of neuroanatomy! Disease perturbations produce selective morphology-RNA changes that RNA impact alone cannot predict. Was led by the invincible grad student Boli Wu!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Xin Jin FTW!

"We developed Perturb-CLEAR, which integrates pooled CRISPR screening and whole-mount imaging to quantify brain-wide cytoarchitecture, and paired it with Perturb-seq to link structural phenotypes to transcriptomic changes."

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Thrilled to announce Critical Mass Ventures, a philanthropic initiative bridging science, capital, and community to close the gap between lifespan and healthspan. Our inaugural postdoc fellowship is now open. 🔬
criticalmassventures.co
#ScienceSky #AcademicSky #Healthspan #Longevity #Postdoc

“Genome-scale functional mapping of the mammalian whole brain with in vivo Perturb-seq” Truly impressive work by @xinjin.bsky.social 🤯🧪🧬🧠
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Excited to introduce @perturb.ai, a company I co-founded to rethink drug discovery. Biology is complex, and disease unfolds across genes, cell types, and tissues. We’re powering AI with the causal logic of human genetics www.perturb.ai/news

Led by the invincible Xinhe Zheng with long-time collaborator Joshua Levin, Kwanho Kim, Sean Simmons, and everyone on the team who made this possible. Constructs available on Addgene soon

We applied this to disease genes in the developing cortex and profiled >85,000 neurons. Broadly expressed genes show high cell-type-specific RNA and ATAC effects, revealing regulatory programs invisible to bulk or unimodal assays. Toward causal gene regulatory models in complex tissues!

With this approach, we can:
• anchor gRNA-derived transcripts at the nuclear membrane
• capture gRNAs directly during sn-multiome preparation
• read out RNA and ATAC jointly in CRISPR screens in vivo

Excited to share: enhanced capture in vivo multiome Perturb-seq!

Worried about low gRNA recovery and wasting sequencing on cells that can’t assign a perturbation? We engineered gRNA transcripts to stay in the nucleus, enabling efficient multiomic Perturb-seq!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Xin Jin receives prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship - Scripps Research Magazine Xin Jin, an associate professor at Scripps Research and a Freeman Hrabowski Scholar at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has been awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship for her exceptional research and le...

Assoc. Prof. @xinjin.bsky.social has been named a 2026 Sloan Research Fellow by the @sloanfoundation.bsky.social, recognized for pioneering in vivo Perturb-seq—a gene-editing approach combining CRISPR technology and single-cell RNA analysis to uncover how genetic variation shapes brain development.

It was such an amazing visit at Utah Neuroscience! I learn from such a diverse crowd of neuroscientists doing super cutting edge works in many fields - and their trainees who are engaging and thoughtful. Campus view is unbelievable! Thank you @jasonsynaptic.bsky.social for having me!

Summer Undergraduate Research Experience | HHMI The Cech Fellows Program is a paid, nine-week summer research experience empowering the next generation of scientific leaders.

Calling all rising juniors & seniors: Interested in biological or biomedical research? Applications for our ’26 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program are now open! Nine weeks, hands-on research, & mentorship from some of the nation’s top scientists — learn more: bit.ly/CechFellows

Scripps Research-led team receives $14.2M NIH award to map the body’s “hidden sixth sense”

The NIH has awarded a $14.2M Director’s Transformative Research Award to a team led by Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist @ardemp.bskyverified.social, Prof. @liye-tsri.bsky.social and Assoc. Prof. @xinjin.bsky.social to map interoception and build the first atlas of this hidden sixth sense.

Coming to #SfN2025 in San Diego? Come join our Neuroscience Symposium a day before on Nov 13! Hear from a fantastic speaker lineup and interact with vibrant audience in our community and beyond.

Free registration link: www.eventbrite.com/e/dorris-neu...

Actively hiring! Video made by Sora-2 but the job post is 100% real.

Apply here: hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...

And to my Freeman Hrabowski Scholar cohort: what an inspiring group to be part of. Every talk was effortlessly pitch-perfect, and your brilliance gives the most healthy dosage and best kind of imposter-syndrome fuel #FHS25Strong

First time bringing my fantastic students to the HHMI Science Meeting and they absolutely shined at the session! ✨ It remains one of the most stimulating mtg — I’m science-starstruck every 10 min. We’re grateful for the chance to spark new collaborations that will take our technologies further

A. James Hudspeth, neuroscientist who unlocked secrets of hearing, has died - News A. James Hudspeth, a Rockefeller neuroscientist who discovered how sound waves are converted into electrical signals in the ear's cochlea, died Saturday at his home in Manhattan. A pioneering scientist and dedicated mentor, he was the university's F.M. ...

We are deeply saddened to share that our friend and colleague Jim Hudspeth passed away on Saturday. We will remember and continue to be inspired by Jim’s integrity, his humility, and his unwavering commitment to discovery.

A major KI initiative to recruit new assistant professors with outstanding proposals in all areas of medicine, biomedicine and public health. We offer an amazing research environment, great colleagues and generous startup packages. Check it out and get working on your applications! (repost please!)

Terence Tao (@teorth.bsky.social) has written a thread on Mastodon about the impact of the federal grant freeze to UCLA, particularly to his own field of Mathematics. UCLA's IPAM (Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics) could shut down entirely

mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1149568...

Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Max Planck Directorships: Expressions of interest can be submitted until 31 October 2025.

Director at Max Planck - a unique position! The Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Max Planck Directorships is open now and can be submitted by the 31st of October 2025. ➡️ mpg.de/directors - Please share the Open Call among potential candidates.

Senate appropriators approve Labor-HHS bill with NIH bump The vote and lawmaker comments show that most senators aren't going along with the White House's proposed 40% budget cut to NIH.

BIG NEWS:

“Senate appropriators on Thursday approved an FY26 Labor-HHS bill that included a slight bump in funding for the NIH, with a strong 26–3 bipartisan vote.”

Thank you to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on both sides of the aisle!

www.axios.com/pro/health-c...