From Cell Types to Synapses to Genetic Perturbation: DNA-Based Technologies for Studying the Biology of Brain Cells

Presenter Steve McCarroll and the scientists in his lab use DNA to understand human biology and disease. They have discovered ways that genes and alleles shape human biology – from cancer (clonal hematopoiesis) to schizophrenia (complement component four genes). Many of their discoveries involve unexpected insights arising from new ways of analyzing biological systems and human DNA. The lab members also develop technologies (such as Drop-seq) that turn aspects of biology into “big data” solutions combining computational approaches and laboratory experiments.