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Bob Johnston

@bobbyjeyeguy.bsky.social

450 followers 110 following 28 posts

Studies human retinal organoids and fly eyes to understand how neuronal diversity is generated. https://www.johnstonlabjhu.com/

www.johnstonlabjhu.com

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Bob Johnston @bobbyjeyeguy.bsky.social · Mar 24

Check out this tour de force work from @christ3na.bsky.social in my lab!

Her studies reveal how developmental timing in the retina is controlled like an hourglass. The progenitor:neuron ratio shifts to control signaling levels and trigger photoreceptor development over time. Check it out!!

bioRxivpreprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · Mar 24

DIO3 coordinates photoreceptor development timing and fate stability in human retinal organoids https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.20.644422v1

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

Maria Paz Fernandez @mariadelapax.bsky.social · 8d

Come join us!
Applications to the GCDB Biology Doctoral program at IU are due December 1st.

@iubiology.bsky.social
@alizeemalnoe.bsky.social @rhcalderon.bsky.social @lesleynweaver.bsky.social @hoosierflyman.bsky.social @tennessenlab.bsky.social @flyeyelab.bsky.social @briancalvi.bsky.social

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Kate Cavanaugh @katecavanaugh.bsky.social · 8d

See this? This = implanting mouse embryo. Usually this happens inside its mother and is invisible to us, but we can actually watch implantation ex vivo with the hope of understanding why implantation goes awry in embryos of older women. A 🧵...

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Bob Johnston @bobbyjeyeguy.bsky.social · 10d

Check this paper from @simonomisz.bsky.social in our lab!
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
Human retinas/organoids go through 2 apoptotic waves. Organoids also have a necrotic wave. Blocking apoptosis promotes RGC survival to day 200 (usually die!). Apoptosis promotes normal neurogenesis/maturation.

Blocking apoptosis promotes survival and alters developmental dynamics of human retinal ganglion cells in retinal organoids

Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are the projection neurons that transmit visual information from the retina to the brain. In many species, a substantial proportion of RGCs are eliminated by programmed c...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

Jack Bateman @jbateman01.bsky.social · 21d

Kinetic organization of the genome revealed by ultraresolution multiscale live imaging www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Kinetic organization of the genome revealed by ultraresolution multiscale live imaging

Genome function requires regulated genome motion. However, tools to directly observe this motion in vivo have been limited in coverage and resolution. Here we introduce an approach to tile mammalian c...

www.science.org

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

Anna La Torre @latorrelab.bsky.social · 20d

#FluorescenceFriday: a weekly reminder that behind the data, there are moments of pure wonder. This is why we do what we do. And the #retina is so uniquely beautiful!

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

Sardonicus @sardonicus.eu · 24d

man rolling rock up hill
how it started how its going

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Joel Miesfeld @joelmiesfeld.bsky.social · 23d

A big thanks to the NEI for supporting my new R01 and MCW for highlighting the research focus. We’ve already made some interesting discoveries and I’m excited to see how the research progresses for years to come. www.mcw.edu/mcwknowledge...

Preventing Blindness by Untangling the Genetic Network of Vision Neurons

Dr. Joel Miesfeld’s lab studies the mechanisms behind retinal ganglion cells to better understand vision development.

www.mcw.edu

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

Eric Joyce @ericjoyce.bsky.social · 23d

We’re excited to share that, after receiving many requests each year from the research community for Oligopaint DNA & RNA FISH probes, we’re piloting a service to design & prepare probes for labs.
Please share with colleagues who may benefit!
ericjoycelab.com/oligopaint-f...

Oligopaint Probe Requests

In an effort to make Oligopaint FISH probes more broadly available to the research community, we offer DNA and RNA FISH probe design, synthesis, and generation. By dedicating a full-time staff memb…

ericjoycelab.com

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

Medical College of Wisconsin @medicalcollegeofwi.bsky.social · 22d

Damaged retinal ganglion cells can lead to blindness. MCW’s Dr. Joel Miesfeld is conducting #research into the development of these cells to better identify ways to help them regenerate after damage. Learn more: www.mcw.edu/mcwknowledge...

#Ophthalmology #VisionHealth #MCWKnowledge

Preventing Blindness by Untangling the Genetic Network of Vision Neurons

Dr. Joel Miesfeld’s lab studies the mechanisms behind retinal ganglion cells to better understand vision development.

www.mcw.edu

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

Anna La Torre @latorrelab.bsky.social · 23d

🎉 New preprints from the lab! (1) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Novel Roles of Sonic Hedgehog Signaling in Retinal Patterning and Neurogenesis During Mammalian Eye Development

The Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway is essential for the patterning, growth, and morphogenesis of many tissues. During early eye development, Shh is critical for the formation of the two optic ...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

Anna La Torre @latorrelab.bsky.social · 23d

New preprints from the lab!! (2)

bioRxiv Developmental Biology @biorxiv-devbio.bsky.social · 23d

Uncoupling Neocortical Neuron Fate and Migration via a Let-7-RBX2 Axis https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.11.675676v1

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

Justin Kumar @flyeyelab.bsky.social · 23d

Very proud of former Kumar lab PhD student, Alison Ordway, for receiving a K99 award from the National Eye Institute on her work describing photoreceptor patterning in Drosophila and mosquito compound eyes. Keep your eyes out for Alison when she goes out on the job market.

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

Tom Baden @neurofishh.bsky.social · 27d

Very excited about our new preprint, led by @gkafetzis.bsky.social /w @mikebok.bsky.social & @denilsson.bsky.social. We suggest that the vertebrate 'duplex' retina emerged from interconnecting two ancient median-eye microcircuits. Say goodbye to the 'simplex' retina - it probably never existed!

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Seth Blackshaw @sethblackshaw.bsky.social · 27d

Our latest manuscript is out, and this one tackles the problem of cellular aging in the retina, using comparative multiomic analysis of zebrafish, mouse, and humans. What led us to work on aging after studying development and regeneration? Explainer follows./1
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Comparative single-cell multiomic analysis reveals evolutionarily conserved and species-specific cellular mechanisms mediating natural retinal aging.

Biological age is a major risk factor in the development of common degenerative retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma. To systematically characterize molecular mechani...

www.biorxiv.org

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

Ollie Inge @oliveringe.bsky.social · Sep 9

1/7 Really happy to see my PhD work published in ✨Developmental Cell✨ today! We find human endoderm is specified by two developmental trajectories 🔀, and the choice between alternate routes is dictated by the combinatorial BMP4/Activin signalling. www.cell.com/developmenta...

Combinatorial BMP4 and activin direct the choice between alternate routes to endoderm in a stem cell model of human gastrulation

Inge et al. show that human endoderm originates from two converging developmental routes with distinct dynamics and efficiencies yet similar developmental potential. Combinatorial activin and BMP4 sig...

www.cell.com

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Bob Johnston @bobbyjeyeguy.bsky.social · Sep 9

I am excited for Ali Ordway, a postdoc in my lab, who just got award a K99/R00 award!! She is studying how photoreceptors are patterned in the eyes of flies and other insects!

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Jason Meyer @meyerlab.bsky.social · Sep 9

Excited to share the latest paper from our lab! Excellent work from Cátia Gomes and Kang-Chieh Huang!

Modeling human retinal ganglion cell axonal outgrowth, development, and pathology using pluripotent stem cell–based microfluidic platforms

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

www.pnas.org

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · Sep 1

Fly friends--join us at #Dros26

Mark D. Garfinkel, Ph.D. @mdgarfinkel.bsky.social · Sep 1

T-minus 31 days for registration opening for the Annual #Drosophila Research Conference in Chicago next March.

Looking forward to seeing all our meeting support staff from @genetics-gsa.bsky.social. Ditto for our heroic curators @flybase.bsky.social.

#genetics

genetics-gsa.org/drosophila-2...

Homepage - 67th Annual Drosophila Research Conference

Visit our website to learn more.

genetics-gsa.org

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

The Hassan Brain Development Team @hassanbraindevlab.bsky.social · Sep 1

Latest from the lab, the beautiful work of Iryna Mohylyak and colleagues describing a temporal developmental transcriptional program for mitochondrial quality control and synaptic connectivity, with @jdejuan-sanz.bsky.social, Olga Corti and @steinaerts.bsky.social
labs
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Temporal transcriptional regulation of mitochondrial morphology primes activity-dependent circuit connectivity - Nature Communications

This study investigates the developmental transcriptional regulation of mitochondrial quality control. Authors identify the Drosophila factor Mirana, homologous to mammalian TZAP, as a key temporal re...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

Luisa Cochella @lcochella.bsky.social · Sep 3

Our work on the function of miR-51/miR-100 is out! miR-100 is widely conserved across eumetazoans but its function has been mysterious. Emilio Santillán found in worms it regulates signaling and extracellular matrix genes, some of which seem to be conserved targets! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

An ancient and essential miRNA family controls cellular interaction pathways in C. elegans

A microRNA that arose at the origin of eumetazoans regulates cell adhesion and signaling in C. elegans through conserved targets.

www.science.org

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

Steven Sloan @sloanlab.bsky.social · Aug 21

Excited to share an important new pre-print from the lab led by incredibly talented postdoc @maureenbiologies.bsky.social, a neurotoxicologist who came to the lab with an ambitious goal of understanding the consequences of toxicant exposure in human neurodevelopment. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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Debby Silver @debbysilver.bsky.social · Aug 10

Sharing our newest study led by the incredibly talented @federicamosti.bsky.social investigating new molecular mechanisms of human brain development. We discover a human-specific enhancer HAR1984 that influences chromatin looping to promote cortical size and folding! www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

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Developmental Biology @devbiol.bsky.social · Aug 7

#DBfeature #Drosophila🪰

Decoding a Cell's Fate: How Notch and receptor tyrosine kinase signals specify the Drosophila R7 photoreceptor

by Ronald Arias, Andrew Tomlinson
sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Tramtrack/ttk expression (green) in Drosophila imaginal tissues

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

James Briscoe @jamesbriscoe.bsky.social · Aug 4

A Summer reading recommendation: new primer in @dev-journal.bsky.social explains how dynamical systems theory unlocks the logic of developmental patterning

Everything from bistable switches & oscillators to phase portraits & more with Python code to explore

journals.biologists.com/dev/article/...

From genes to patterns: five key dynamical systems concepts to decode developmental regulatory mechanisms

Summary: Dynamical systems theory provides a powerful quantitative and intuitive framework to understand developmental processes. This Primer brings key concepts of this framework to the ever-growing ...

journals.biologists.com

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Reposted by Bob Johnston

Justin Kumar @flyeyelab.bsky.social · Aug 5

My lab's newest research paper on the Drosophila eye is published in Development today. Thanks to the editorial staff for writing a research highlight and interviewing us about our work.

journals.biologists.com/dev/article-...

Differential regulation of eye specification in Drosophila by Polycomb Group epigenetic repressors

Highlighted Article: Distinct gene sets are differentially expressed in response to the knockdown of Polycomb Group (PcG) members, suggesting that multiple avenues may exist for the eye to be transfor...

journals.biologists.com

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