I'm excited to share a new paper from our lab showing how redox regulation of Ahcy, an enzyme involved in one-carbon metabolism allows rapid gene expression changes to protect Drosophila photoreceptors against retinal degeneration caused by light stress. doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

I've got a new chapter out, Insights Into Retinal Remodeling In Retinal Degenerative Disease: bryanwjones.com/2026/07/insi...

Are you blind or partially sighted? We're setting up a working group to help us develop some large 3D insect models, to be used as tactile resources in the Museum & we'd love you to join us! All the details are on our website. https://ow.ly/PUu550ZrmKX University of Cambridge Museums

It is official: The @moraneyecenter.bsky.social has named @blockintheback.bsky.social as the Vice Chair for Vision Research and Research Director. I could not be more happy for my former institution as they are in the best hands with Kristen. healthcare.utah.edu/moran/news/2...

Moran Eye Center Names Kristen M. Kwan, PhD, Vice Chair for Vision Research

The John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah has named Kristen M. Kwan, PhD, Vice Chair for Vision Research. In this leadership role, she will help guide the strategic direction of the Moran...

healthcare.utah.edu

Interesting read in the New Yorker (and shameless self-promotion:)

The New Yorker@newyorker.com · last wk.

A new color called olo can be described as the “greenest green.” It can never be captured by a camera, but its development tells us a lot about how vision works. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

New preprint! Another piece from @gaparicio.bsky.social thesis, now exploring the role of PALS1 (aka Nok, or MPP5) in lamination and photoreceptor progenitors positioning in the developing zebrafish retina and retinal organoids: tinyurl.com/yya754tf

Reduction of PALS1/Nok disrupts retinal lamination through altered cell positioning while preserving photoreceptor self-organization capacity

The vertebrate neural retina is composed of several neuronal types that precisely organize into layers, with photoreceptors facing the outer surface and the projection neurons, retinal ganglion cells,...

tinyurl.com

We are excited to share our collaboration with @pheereynolds.bsky.social, Robert Hindges & team on retinal plasticity, now out in Neuron! This work shows how visual experience during early development changes the anatomical and functional properties of amacrine cells and ultimately behavior!

Early visual experience elicits cellular and functional plasticity in the retina and alters behavior

The understanding of experience-dependent plasticity in the vertebrate retina is largely incomplete. Reynolds et al. discovered that raising animals in differently patterned visual environments change...

cell.com

#Zebrafish for the win! Congrats to Jack Nicholls and this beautiful image of lamination in the zebrafish retina 🐟 🧪 See the rest of the Top 10 here: thenode.biologists.com/results-of-t...

Young Embryologist Network@yen-network.bsky.social · last mo.

We are excited to announce the results of the YEN 2026 Image Competition! Thanks to all who submitted an entry. This year amazing work has been shared with us complementing our perspectives talks on art+science. We congratulate the winners of the YEN and public votes! #yen2026 #yenimagecompetition

Interested in weird and crazy #photoreceptor types - like “superrods” in some deep-sea fish?🤩 Happy to see you on Wednesday poster (PS3.45) session at #ICN2026 #ICN2026Vancouver @neuroethology.org

Cooooool @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social paper on gap junction plasticity and visual performance from the @obrien-lab.bsky.social: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Retinal electrical synapse plasticity is required for optimal visual performance

Abstract Most electrical synapses in the mammalian central nervous system are composed of Connexin 36 (Cx36). Electrical synapses are functionally plastic, changing their degree of coupling based on t...

biorxiv.org

Mini-reunion #2! Former Agosto lab MSc student (and my first graduate!) Andrew Rideout stopped by to visit.

Helsinki Vision 2026 brings retinal neuroscientists and ophthalmologists together to talk circuits, degeneration, glaucoma, RP, diagnostics and restoration — all in one room. Abstract deadline: 31 July 15–18 Sep · Helsinki Speakers, schedule and submission helsinkivision2026.eu #HelsinkiVision2026

There’s still time to register and send abstracts to Helsinki Vision 2026 with a fabulous lineup of speakers🤩Please consider attending, Helsinki in September is beautiful and the meeting will certainly be extraordinary.

@retinalogy.bsky.social · 3w ago

Helsinki Vision 2026 brings retinal neuroscientists and ophthalmologists together to talk circuits, degeneration, glaucoma, RP, diagnostics and restoration — all in one room. Abstract deadline: 31 July 15–18 Sep · Helsinki Speakers, schedule and submission helsinkivision2026.eu #HelsinkiVision2026

The big picture is becoming increasingly clear: Melanopsin isn't just about circadian rhythms or the pupillary light reflex. It's helping shape how the visual system processes the world across a remarkably wide range of light levels. 3/5

M4 ipRGCs, the original sustained ON alpha ganglion cells, continue to surprise us. They're not simply "retinal ganglion cells that happen to express melanopsin." They're integrating multiple photoreceptor inputs while contributing directly to visual processing and contrast sensitivity. 2/5

A really nice new paper in Cell Reports from Kat Daly on M4 ipRGCs. One of the themes I've loved watching over the past decade is the transformation of melanopsin biology from a niche circadian photopigment into a major player in image-forming vision. 1/5 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Timely preprint from our Fadool lab friends finds even more interactions and interesting biology with these genes! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Subfunctionalization of tbx2 paralogues during photoreceptor cell specification in zebrafish

Zebrafish possess three distinct sources of retinal progenitors that produce identical photoreceptor subtypes throughout life. All photoreceptor progenitors simultaneously express multiple transcripti...

biorxiv.org

Preprint for the first manuscript of the Angueyra Lab is out! We delve deep into cell-fate decisions during photoreceptor development and discover that the 𝘵𝘣𝘹2 paralogues play multiple roles to control the fate of the five photoreceptor subtypes in zebrafish.

bioRxiv Developmental Biology@biorxiv-devbio.bsky.social · 2w ago

Transcriptional regulation by Tbx2 paralogs creates diversity within photoreceptor subtypes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.20.739565v1

Took the kiddo to the local raptor centre today and he was chuffed to help out showering "Jefferson" the Bald Eagle. I managed to get this shot, which really shows the nictitating membrane (aka 3rd eyelid) well. #raptors #Alberta #Canada #birds 🪶

Remembering the great Jerry Lutty, fantastic mentor to so many of us, pioneer in the study of the choroid, and warm and wonderful human being.

@csmarcum.bsky.social , @nickhartphd.bsky.social , @clairemkbowen.bsky.social , and I are speaking with this panel at #JSM2026 in Boston with @amstatnews.bsky.social and @asa-scipol.bsky.social . #opendata #feddata #defenddata #defendresearch #statsky

Feller lab reunion at #FASEB #retina meeting. What a thrill to have old and young generations together atni e fantastic meeting

It’s the very cool @katrinfranke.bsky.social speaking about her work from retina to cortex at the #FASEB Retinal Research Conference.

It’s @hirokiasari.bsky.social presenting his computational work on neural circuits at #FASEB Retinal Research Conference.

Vision Science makes the front page of NYT!! featuring work from @neurofishh.bsky.social and @denilsson.bsky.social with comments from Berkeley's own @karthikshekhar.bsky.social #visionscience www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/s...

The Rise of Eyes Began With Just One

nytimes.com

Really lucky to have this group of new PIs to traverse academia together. Continuing the legacy of the tight knit, collaborative, and kind retina neurobiology community. #RetNeuroSRC @annaintegrated.bsky.social @juanonyme.bsky.social

It’s the incomparable @bevilconway.bsky.social from the NIH/NEI speaking at #FASEB Retinal Research Conference.

It’s @kerschensteiner.bsky.social at the #FASEB Retinal Research Conference talking about his work in understanding motion detection in retina.

It’s @teuler.bsky.social talking about his work with Eyewire II at #FASEB Retinal Research Conference.

When a 72-year-old resident visited our mobile clinic, she shared she hadn’t seen an eye doctor in years, despite living w/ cataracts & glaucoma. Access matters. And sometimes, it starts with simply being nearby. https://eyeandear.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2026_June_Magazine2_Waxman.pdf