Deciphering the mysteries of human brain development
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Project Leader
Dr Mike Clark+61 3 9035 3669
Project Details
Human brain development is an exquisitely complex process, which is tightly controlled by networks of gene products. Almost all human genes make multiple mRNA products (known as isoforms), but current technologies lack the ability to identify and functionally characterise the repertoire of gene isoforms controlling brain development. This project will profile gene isoforms in developing brain cells using long-read single cell RNA sequencing, a ground-breaking new technique for characterising isoform expression in individual cells. To examine gene isoforms in the developing brain, stem cells will be differentiated into neurons and cerebral organoids, two cutting-edge models of human brain development. This project will illuminate the role of gene isoforms in brain development and form a foundation for understanding how gene isoforms regulate brain cell functions and fates. The opportunity exists to perform the stem cell differentiations and sequencing and/or bioinformatic analysis of expression data for this project and would suit students interested in either laboratory work or computational analysis.
Collaborators
Clare Parish, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Aus
Zameel Cader, University of Oxford, UK
Wilfried Haerty, Earlham Institute, UK