Our kind of annual tradition: Glucose + Tollens’ reagent + festive swirling = a chemical reaction that creates a thin layer of silver, loads of seasonal cheer, & ornaments worthy of being passed down for ... well, a few weeks at least. Happy holidays to all those who celebrate! ✨

“I feel being part of their life, being part of their career, is just priceless.” — HHMI Investigator Xin Chen, '25 Summer Undergraduate Research Program mentor 🧪 Rising junior or senior? Applications close 11:59pm Dec. 22! Explore a career in biological or biomedical research: bit.ly/CechFellows

(1/2): What if the bacteria living in our digestive tracts could produce compounds that help us live longer? The Wang (Meng) Lab at HHMI's Janelia Research Campus has found a way to get gut microbes to produce metabolites that promote longevity in animals: hhmi.news/48QyPAm.

Apply by Feb. 3 to become a Janelia Group Leader! Group Leaders drive breakthroughs & experimental approaches in imaging, molecular engineering, protein chemistry, mass spectrometry, & methods that don't yet exist. Learn more: janelia.org/groupleader 🧪

(1/2): Using cryo-electron tomography and an instrument like this one, HHMI Investigator Michael Rosen & team (not pictured) have captured the most detailed images to date of the molecules inside chromatin condensates. hhmi.news/4iFBIrV

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

Summer Undergraduate Research Experience | HHMI

The Cech Fellows Program is a paid, nine-week summer research experience empowering the next generation of scientific leaders.

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ICYMI: A team of researchers unveiled the complete connectome of an entire male fruit fly central nervous system, encompassing the central brain, optic lobes, and ventral nerve cord. https://hhmi.news/4o3EJnk

Researchers reveal connectome of the male fruit fly central nervous system

A team of researchers at HHMI's Janelia Research Campus has unveiled the complete connectome of a male fruit fly central nervous system—a seamless map of all the neurons in the brain and nerve cord of...

hhmi.news

A new, nerdy paper. We figured out (some) of the rules underlying cell-permeability of probes and designed ligands that light up, grab, and move proteins around. Awesome @hhmijanelia.bsky.social x @uwmadison.bsky.social x @stjuderesearch.bsky.social collaboration! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Join the team at Janelia to use #theory, computation, and modeling to tackle bold questions in #biology. Collaborate across scientific disciplines to drive discovery. Apply by Nov. 3 @ https://janelia.link/theoryfellowprogram #computationalbiology #sciencecareers

Excited to announce our new pre-print (www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...)! This collaborative work (co-led by Adriane Otopalik and Gerry Rubin) examines how neuronal circuits regulate social behaviors, like courtship🫶 and aggression🥊, across sexes. #neuroscience #Drosophila #WomenInSTEM 🧪1/

🦠 New research provides a mechanism for understanding how environmental changes to somatic cells are passed through the germline, helping scientists better understand transgenerational effects, like the malnutrition of a parent affecting its offspring. https://hhmi.news/4mCD3QO

🪰 Srinivas Turaga @hhmijanelia.bsky.social opened #CRSy25 Day 3’s afternoon session with “Simulating the brain and body of the fruit fly” From detailed connectomes to full-body physics, they model how neural circuits generate flight & walking - bridging the gap between brain structure and behaviour.

🌟 Apply to lead a lab at Janelia 🌟 We’re #hiring Group Leaders in our Computation & Theory research area. 🔹 5-year renewable appointment 🔹 Internal funding + generous resources 🔹 Collaboration across disciplines 📅 Apply by Nov. 4 👉 https://janelia.link/groupleader

🎉 Congrats to Research Scientist Igor Siwanowicz: 5th & 8th place in the 2025 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition for his images of spores of a small tropical fern & mallow pollen germinating on stigma while being parasitized by a filamentous fungus. https://hhmi.news/491e0Uf

Opening talk: 🧠🐟 How does the whole brain coordinate learning, memory & movement? @mishaahrens.bsky.social @hhmijanelia.bsky.social unveils whole-brain imaging in zebrafish exploring how neural & body dynamics shape behaviour and adaptation.

🧞Like its namesake, Janelia’s GENIE Project Team makes wishes come true. Luckily for biologists, this genie doesn’t grant just 3 requests. 🧪Learn about how GENIE has accelerated the development of best-in-class sensors for measuring neuronal activity. https://hhmi.news/4gFqwKX

Unleashing the GENIE: Janelia's Project Team develops state-of-the-art sensors for biological research

For more than a decade, the GENIE Project Team at HHMI's Janelia Research Campus has collaborated with the research campus's tool developers and tool users to take innovative biological sensors from novel prototypes to widely used laboratory staples--a ...

hhmi.news

🧠 A new wiring diagram of the 166,000+ neurons in the brain & nerve cord of a male fruit fly is a key tool in uncovering how the brain enables complex behavior—information that could ultimately help scientists better understand what causes different diseases ➡️ https://hhmi.news/4o3EJnk

Today marks 4 years of enjoying the beautiful @hhmijanelia.bsky.social campus 🌳

📢Apply by Dec. 3 for our joint graduate programs with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in neuroscience & cross-disciplinary biology. 🧠Develop interdisciplinary research projects 🌍Join a collaborative environment 🔬Leverage shared resources & support teams ➡️ janelia.org/graduate

🔊 Listen to Senior Group Leader Hari Shroff discuss microscopy, biology and his path through science in the latest episode of Ashoka University's The Science of It podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyoP5HwAFAc&list=PLaTCrA79FLSx-NV34W0Ee2Ei8FgmBDEKn&index=16

The Science of Microscopy | Innovator Hari Shroff | The Science of It Ep. 4

Microscopist Hari Shroff takes us deeper into the world of nature's tiniest beings in the latest episode of Ashoka University's #TheScienceofIt podcast. What made a computer scientist and physicist turn to building microscopes to explore the beauty of ...

youtube.com

Pleased to have this review out in @cp-trendsneuro.bsky.social. In it we discuss various aspects of the intersection between foraging behaviors and neuroscience, and offer some future directions: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Foraging as an ethological framework for neuroscience

The study of foraging is central to a renewed interest in naturalistic behavior in neuroscience. Applying a foraging framework grounded in behavioral …

sciencedirect.com

🪰 A team of researchers has unveiled the complete connectome of a male fruit fly central nervous system—a seamless map of all the neurons in the brain and nerve cord of a single male fruit fly and the millions of connections between them. 🔗 https://hhmi.news/4o3EJnk

Become a Theory Fellow @hhmijanelia.bsky.social 🧪 Work alongside experimentalists to test and refine theories 🎯 Receive mentorship from leading computational scientists 🔁 Contribute to Janelia’s cross-disciplinary research environment Apply by Nov. 3 @ https://janelia.link/theoryfellowprogram

🥼 New research from the Wang Lab reveals a novel connection between lysosomes & the epigenome and provides new insights into how lysosomes regulate longevity over generations & drive the histone-based transfer of epigenetic information between cells. 🔗 https://hhmi.news/4mCD3QO

Plenary speaker spotlight ✨ Meng Wang (@bcmhouston.bsky.social / @hhmi.org) at #ASBMB26: “Racing the clock: Molecular mechanisms of aging.” ➡️Dive into the biochemical basis of aging, from metabolism to the genome: ow.ly/68i150X37Pm. #MakeItPossibble #AgingResearch #FutureOfScience

✨ ICYMI: Researchers detail how neurotransmitter receptors in the fly brain change during development ➡️ https://hhmi.news/4mFMhMY

Researchers detail how neurotransmitter receptors in the fly brain change during development

New proteomics research is enabling scientists to decipher how neurotransmitter receptors behave and change as an organism develops. The new work could help scientists better understand the formation and function of synapses--the junctions where communi...

hhmi.news

🪱New research from the Wang Lab shows how changes in a worm’s lysosomes promoting longevity are transferred to its offspring through the epigenome, revealing how epigenetic modifications that help organisms cope with environmental stress can be inherited. 🔗 www.janelia.org/news/leaving...

Leaving a mark: New research shows how longevity is inherited across generations

New research from the Wang Lab reveals a novel connection between lysosomes & the epigenome and provides new insights into how lysosomes regulate longevity over generations & drive the histone-based t...

janelia.org

🥼 Working with tool developers & support teams, Janelia’s GENIE Project Team recently created next generation sensors for detecting the neurotransmitters glutamate & GABA and adapted a new tool aimed at controlling & studying specific neural circuits in flies. 🔗 https://hhmi.news/4gFqwKX

📢 Applications are open for the 4th installment of our ChemTools conference. We'll explore: 🧪 Platforms & tools for analyzing cell/tissue networks ⚡ Methods to perturb biological networks 🔍 Applications that yield new insights 🛏️ Lodging + meals covered ➡️ Apply by Dec 5: https://janelia.news/CHM26